A written submission which is to be given today in the court is still under preparation.

The CBI will press for restoration of criminal conspiracy charges against BJP veteran LK Advani and 19 other top party and RSS leaders when a crucial Babri Masjid demolition case comes up before the Supreme Court on Thursday. Other important names on the list of 20 are Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singh and Vinay Katiyar.

Thousands of people died in sectarian violence after Hindu activists razed the 16th century mosque in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya city in 1992. The demolition followed a noisy campaign by Advani and others for a Ram temple on the site. Many Hindus believe the spot is the birthplace of one of their most revered deities.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had booked several BJP leaders including Advani, Joshi, Bharti and Singh but they were freed by a court in Raebareli of conspiracy charges.

In 2010, the Allahabad High Court confirmed this decision.

PETITION AS IT WAS ORIGINALLY FILED

Sources said the central agency will also not resist if the SC orders filing of supplementary charges by indicting the accused of criminal conspiracy, as hinted by the court on the previous date of hearing on March 6.

"No, we are going ahead with the petition as it was filed originally," they told Mail Today. "There will be no change. There is no occasion to say otherwise."

Observers say what decision the CBI takes on the March 6 notice will be a big test of its independence after being termed a "caged parrot" by the apex court in 2013.

Detractors have suggested that the agency may not be inclined to press criminal conspiracy charges against the BJP and RSS leaders with the Narendra Modi government in power.

"A written submission which is to be given tomorrow (Thursday) in the court is still under preparation. It will say why the upholding of the dropping of charges under section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC against these leaders by the special court, the decision of which was upheld by the Allahabad High Court, is erroneous," said a source connected to the case.

The CBI on May 21, 2010 during the UPA government challenged the order of the HC dropping the conspiracy charges.

CBI'S COMBINED CHARGE SHEET

"Something very peculiar is going on in this case. See people cannot be discharged like this on technical grounds. Why don't you file a supplementary charge sheet? We prima facie do not approve of the way these people have been discharged," a Supreme Court bench of Justice PC Ghose and Justice Rohinton Nariman told the CBI on March 6.

Two separate criminal cases in the Babri demolition incident were being heard by courts in Raebareli and Lucknow. The CBI, however, filed a combined charge sheet.

The SC is also hearing a separate petition filed in 2015 by one Haji Mehboob Ahmad, which claims that with the BJP government and a "participant" Rajnath Singh as home minister, the probe agency - the original petitioner against dropping of criminal conspiracy charges - may not press for their restoration.

"One accused of the said criminal trial, Shri Rajnath Singh, is a cabinet minister and the leader against whom there is a charge of serious omission. One other accused (Kalyan Singh) is governor of a state.

"Although CBI is technically under the office of Prime Minister, but for all practical purposes, the home minister is also an important authority," Mehboob's appeal states.

An Allahabad High Court judgment in 2010 had said Lord Ram was born under the central dome of the makeshift temple in Ayodhya and Hindus have the right to worship there.

OUT-OF-COURT SETTLEMENT

That order was put on hold by the Supreme Court.

The SC last month suggested an out-of-court settlement to resolve the decades-old dispute, which it called a "sensitive and sentimental issue".

Chief Justice of India JS Khehar even said he is ready to mediate.

The Ayodhya issue has returned to the centre stage after the BJP took power in Uttar Pradesh last month with a stunning election victory.

It picked as chief minister priest-turned-politician Yogi Adityanath, a strong supporter of the construction of a temple at the site.

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