A special court of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Lucknow will deliver its verdict in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case on Wednesday. The demolition sparked some of the deadliest riots since partition and left some 2,000 dead. Here’s a look at how the case has developed
1. Two initial information reports (FIRs) were filed in Ayodhya after the demolition of December 6, 1992, the first against unmanned karsevaks or religious volunteers.
2. The second FIR appointed the leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, who were present when the mosque was demolished. Advani spearheaded a campaign for a Ram Temple instead of the mosque.
3. Forty-five more FIRs were later installed.
4. On July 8, 1993, a special court of the IWC was set up in Rae Bareli to hear the case.
5. The charges were filed on July 28, 2005 and 57 witnesses recorded their statements.
6. The Supreme Court referred the case to the Lucknow court on May 30, 2017, as charges were brought against 28 individuals.
7. It extended the deadline for completing the criminal trial in the case on July 19, 2019 by six months and set a period of nine months for the final resolution.
8. The nine-month period expired on April 19, and the special judge wrote to the superior court on May 6 to request an extension.
9. The Supreme Court, on May 8, set a new deadline until August 31 for sentencing.
10. In August, the superior court again extended the deadline to September 3.
Also read: Babri demolition case: defendant may seek waiver of court appearance
Turn in the case
Calling the demolition a crime that shook the “secular fabric of the Constitution,” the supreme court in April 2017 overturned the withdrawal of criminal conspiracy charges against high-profile defendants, including Advani.
The court qualified the verdict of the Allahabad high court on February 12, 2001, dismissing the charges as “wrong”.
Before the 2017 verdict, there were two demolition-related cases being heard in Lucknow and Rae Bareli.
The first case involved anonymous karsevaks in Lucknow and the second involved eight high-profile defendants in Rae Bareli.
In April 2017, the Supreme Court transferred the Rae Bareli case to the Lucknow special court.
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