Special CBI court to announce charges against Advani and others on May 30

This will be done under the orders of the Supreme Court which opposed the dropping of cases against them by the high court. The charges will be framed under section 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code. All these leaders are already facing trial in connection with the demolition of the Babri masjid in Ayodhya 25 years ago.

The leaders who will face additional trial include deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, union cabinet minister Uma Bharti and two members of the Lok Sabha, Murli Manohar Joshi and Vinay Katiyar.

Charges will be also framed against five others including Mahant Nritya Gopal Das who had surrendered in the court earlier and who have been accused in connection with the demolition. They were granted bail soon after surrendering.

Backgrounder:

As many as 49 persons had been accused in connection with the demolition and conspiracy hatched in this respect out of which eight including the then Vishwa Hindu Parishad president Ashok Singhal have died. Cases against 13 of them under section 120(B) were dropped by the high court. The remaining 28 are facing trial for both the " crimes".

The CBI had filed a case against these 13 persons in the Supreme Court claiming that overlooking the conspiracy angle was against the law. The apex court agreed with the agency and ordered for reopening of cases against them too. The order was given on April 19 last.

The investigating agency had not done it quickly and had been pulled by the apex court for the delay. While most of the accused have either kept quiet or said little on it after demolition, Uma Bharti has been most vociferous on the issue. She is one of the saffron leaders who has often demanded early construction of the Ram temple at the site where mandir-mosque existed in 1992.