The Supreme Court on Monday hinted that it may revive the conspiracy charges filed against the accused in the Babri mosque demolition case, including against Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, reported Hindustan Times. The apex court also expressed concern over the delay in the trial and suggested a joint trial for all the 13 accused in the case, ANI reported.

On March 22, the top court will decide on whether the accused should face trial for conspiracy in connection with the case. The Central Bureau of Investigation had moved the Supreme Court against an Allahabad High Court verdict that had cleared Advani, Joshi, Bharti and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh of conspiracy charges.

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the CBI to file a supplementary chargesheet against the accused, including the conspiracy charges, NDTV reported. “We will not accept the discharge of Advani and others on technical grounds...We will ask the trial court to conduct a joint trial,” the court said.

There are two cases in connection with the Babri mosque demolition – one in Lucknow and the other in Raebareli. The Raebareli court is hearing a case against leaders of the BJP and Vishwa Hindu Parishad, while the other case against karsevaks is pending in the Lucknow trial court. The Supreme Court has suggested clubbing the two.

On December 6, 1992, the mosque was demolished in broad daylight by lakhs of karsevaks, who had gathered at the site from across the country. The incident had triggered communal riots across the country.