No exemption for Advani, Joshi: CBI court asks them to appear on May 30

Lucknow: A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Thursday asked Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) senior leader LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, and Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti to appear before it on May 30 in connection with the Babri Masjid demolition case.

According to the report, the Lucknow court said they would get no exemption and must appear before the court on the given date.

All three leaders have been charged with criminal conspiracy in the December 6, 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid. The Supreme Court had last month ruled that conspiracy charges against the trio, as well as other leaders, would be reinstated, 7 years after the Allahabad High Court had upheld a 2001 CBI court judgement dropping them.

The apex court gave the CBI special court in Lucknow a month to frame fresh charges, and two years to deliver its verdict in the 25-year-old demolition case.