The Supreme Court continued to hang its sword over BJP leaders Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, union minister Uma Bharti and others, as it reserved its order on Thursday on the CBI plea to revive conspiracy charges against them in the Babri Masjid demolition case. The court will also decide whether the trial of the VVIP accused can be transferred from a court in Raebareli to Lucknow.

A bench comprising justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Rohinton Nariman indicated that it could direct a fresh joint trial at Lucknow. The bench expressed shock and disappointment over the delay in addressing the case. The court gave all parties time till April 11 to file their written submissions based on the day's proceedings.

There were two sets of cases pertaining to the demolition of the disputed structure. The first involved unnamed 'karsevaks', the trial for which is underway in a Lucknow court. The second set of cases pertains to the VVIPs in a Raebareli court. The SC is hearing an appeal by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the Allahabad High Court's May 2010 ruling that upheld the Raebareli special court dropping the criminal conspiracy charges against Advani and seven others. A revival of the conspiracy charges will likely affect Advani's chances of being nominated to the office of the President, which has been scheduled for July.

Neeraj Kishan Kaul, Additional Solicitor General, appearing for the CBI, insisted that conspiracy charges dropped by the High Court be resurrected. In the last hearing on March 23, the court had also sought written arguments from Advani and others, the CBI and the counsel for the petitioner, Late Haji Mahboob Ahmad, to quickly decide and thus save time on lengthy arguments. Senior advocate KK Venugopal, appearing for both Advani and Dr Joshi, promptly protested when the court hinted at transferring all cases to Lucknow, using its extraordinary powers under the Constitution (Article 142) to expedite the case. "If the CBI has proof that I conspired with over one lakh karsevaks, it should have placed it before the Lucknow court," he said. He insisted there cannot be a joint trial without a state government notification, "Many governments have come and gone. They could have come up with the notification," he said. The SC, prima facie, did not agree with him as it indicated that it would step in to hasten the process of trial and not allow it to go on forever. When Venugopal invoked the right under Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution to assert that the court's extraordinary powers cannot eclipse fundamental rights, Justice Nariman said, "What about Article 21 when it comes to the rights of the victims? It has many facets."

Others facing conspiracy charges in Lucknow include Satish Pradhan, Champat Rai Bansal, Mahant Avaidyanath (deceased), Paramhans Ramchandra, Dr. Ram Vilas Vedanti, Mahamandaleshwar Jagdish Muni Maharaj, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, Dharam Das Chola, Satish Nagar, Moreshwar Save and Baikunth Lal Sharma.