The Supreme Court of India on Saturday extended the deadline for judgement in the Babri Masjid demolition case till September 30, 2020.
In its order, the three-judge bench said, ” Having read the report of Mr Surendra Kumar Yadav, learned Special Judge, and considering that the proceedings are at the far end, we grant one month’s time, i.e., till September 30, 2020, to complete the proceedings including the delivery of judgement.”
It may be mentioned here that the apex court had earlier set a deadline for the special CBI court in Lucknow to deliver its judgement in the case till September 30.
Among the 32 accused is former deputy prime minister LK Advani, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi and the party’s former Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Katiyar.
The Babri Masjid, reportedly built by Mughal Emperor Babur’s general Mir Baqi was demolished by Kar Sevaks on December 6, 1992.
At the time, Advani and Joshi were at the forefront of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement which asserted that the mosque was constructed in the place of an ancient Ram temple.
An FIR was registered in this regard against Kar sevaks who demolished the structure.
It may be mentioned here that a special CBI court in Lucknow completed the examination of 354 prosecution witnesses earlier this year.
It then started the process of recording the statements of the accused under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) from June 5 onwards.