Babri Masjid case: Advani, Joshi, Bharti charged with criminal conspiracy; Naidu says BJP leaders innocent

Criminal conspiracy charges were framed on Tuesday against BJP stalwarts LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, water minister Uma Bharti and nine more leaders in connection with the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid. (Highlights) They appeared in a special CBI court in Lucknow, pleaded not guilty and were granted bail. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath met the three accused outside the court in a sign of support. He will visit Ayodhya and pray at the disputed site on Wednesday. Kalyan Singh, the BJP chief minister of Uttar Pradesh when the mosque was razed, was not arraigned because of the immunity given to governors from legal proceedings. He is now the governor of Rajasthan. “I don’t consider myself a criminal. It was not a conspiracy,” said Bharti, the 58-year-old water resources minister in the Narendra Modi government. Fellow accused Vinay Katiyar, a former BJP parliamentarian, said: “The demolition was spontaneous and there was never any conspiracy.” The BJP, which is committed to the construction of a temple in Ayodhya, defended the accused. “They are innocent,” Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu said. But the opposition Congress demanded Bharti’s removal from the ministry after the court order. “She must step down. We hope the Prime Minister will ask her to step down,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said. Thousands of “kar sevaks” or supporters of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) razed the Mughal-era mosque in Ayodhya, which many Hindus believe was built on top of the birthplace of god Ram. The destruction on December 6, 1992, unleashed some of the deadliest religious riots across the country since Independence, killing more than 3,000 people. The disputed site, comprising 2.7 acres, remains India’s most potent religious flashpoint. Advani, a former home minister, said he tried to stop the clashes. A CBI court dropped charges of criminal conspiracy against Advani and long-time comrade Joshi, aged 83, on technical grounds 16 years ago. The Supreme Court revived the case this April, saying the demolition shook “the fabric of the Constitution”. Tuesday’s order is viewed as a setback for the 89-year-old Advani whose name is doing the rounds in political circles as a possible candidate for the presidential polls. President Pranab Mukherjee’s term ends this July. Besides the BJP leaders, the others accused in the case are firebrand Hindutva campaigner Sadhvi Rithambara, Vishnu Hari Dalmiya and Ram Vilas Vedanti of the VHP, Shiv Sena leader Satish Pradhan, Bakunth Lal Sharma, Champat Rai Bansal, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das and Dharam Das. The judge framed charges against them under Section 120(b) of the Indian Penal Code, which stands for criminal conspiracy. They face trial for conspiracy in addition to charges against them for promoting religious enmity and defiling a place of worship with the intent to insult a religion. “I was one of those who pulled the dome down,” right-wing leader Vedanti said on Tuesday ahead of his appearance in the special court. The maximum punishment in such a case would be five years in jail or a fine or both, according to a lawyer who attended the proceedings. The CBI had charge-sheeted 21 people but many of them, including Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and the VHP’s Acharya Giriraj Kishore, Ashok Singhal, Paramhans Ram Chandra Das and Mahant Avaidhynath, died before the long-drawn trial ended. This April, the Supreme Court ordered the lower court to wrap up the trial in two years. (With inputs from HTC New Delhi and agencies)