Providing relief to LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and 19 others in the Babri Masjid demolition case, the Allahabad High Court on Thursday dismissed a CBI revision petition challenging the order of a special court to drop criminal proceedings against the BJP leaders.
The CBI had sought a direction for continuing proceedings against Advani and Joshi, Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singh and others in connection with the demolition of the Masjid on December 6, 1992.
In a 44-page judgment, Justice Alok Kumar Singh of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court said: ?Nothing is found against the correctness, legality, propriety or regularity in respect of any of the findings of the lower court?.
?There is no embellishment in the impugned order dated May 4, 2001 neither on factual or legal matrix. Hence, there is no occasion for this court to make any interference in the impugned order,? he said.
VHP leader Ashok Singhal and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray were among the 21 who got relief from the order of the special court. On May 4, 2001, the special court had dropped the conspiracy charge against Advani and the others.
The court today also partly allowed another petition filed by the then District Magistrate, Faizabad, Ravindra Nath Srivastava. It directed the CBI to indicate at the earliest as to the witnesses and documentary evidence it proposes to take up against the petitioner, so that he may not be deprived from effectively preparing and putting up his defence.
Srivastava had also contended that he could not be treated as an accused in this case. However, the court said that this point was not acceptable. Reacting to the High Court decision, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board said the CBI should move the apex court.
Board member Zafaryab Jilani claimed that the Central government and the CBI were not moving quickly in the demolition cases pending in Lucknow and Rae Bareli courts.