The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Tuesday issued notices to Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and 18 others on a CBI petition challenging the 2001 order of a Special CBI court dropping proceedings against them in the Babri Masjid demolition case on technical grounds.
Justice M A Khan passed the order on a revision petition filed by the CBI seeking quashing of the May 4, 2001 order of Special Judge (Ayodhya case) S K Shukla.
The CBI has prayed for setting aside the order of the lower court and sought direction to the trial court for proceeding against all the accused persons in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
The court fixed December 16 as the next date of hearing.
The CBI had filed a joint charge sheet against 49 accused persons, including Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singh, Thackeray, Ashok Singhal, Vinay Katiyar and others in the Special Court (Ayodhya case) in the Babri Masjid Demolition case.
The lower court had dropped proceedings against 21 accused persons, including Advani, Joshi, Bharti, Thackeray, Singhal on May 4, 2001. The CBI later moved a revision petition in the high court against the lower court order.
Meanwhile, the accused persons had already filed a petition in the high court challenging the Uttar Pradesh government notification constituting the Special Court for their trial.
On their petition, the high court quashed the government notification citing a technical flaw but said that the state government could, if it so desired, issue a fresh notification.
The then Mayawati government later pleaded in the court that there was no need to issue a fresh notification and the trial could proceed at the Special Court constituted at Rae Bareli.
The Special Court in Rae Bareli had later discharged Advani in the matter but ordered framing of charges against seven others, including Joshi, Bharti and Katiyar.
All those accused by the Rae Bareli court have filed a revision petition in the high court challenging the order of the Rae Bareli court.
Another revision petition challenging acquittal of Advani in the matter has also been filed in the high court, which has stayed the proceedings at the Rae Bareli court.