NEW DELHI: India’s federal police moved the Supreme Court on Friday against a nine-month-old High Court order that dropped charges of criminal conspiracy against top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including former ministers Lal Kishen Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

In its appeal, the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) said that the Allahabad High Court had not come to the right conclusion and the charges of criminal conspiracy should be restored against the leaders.

The CBI’s move comes ahead of parliament’s budget session starting on Monday during which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s coalition government is expected to face opposition ire on a slew of corruption charges. Dr Singh had needed the BJP’s help in a controversial civil nuclear deal related parliamentary vote last year, which could explain why the CBI had not moved the Supreme Court against the High Court’s order right then.

The High Court had on May 20 last year dismissed the CBI plea seeking revival of criminal conspiracy charges against rightwing Hindu leaders, including Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, Vinay Katiyar, Vishnu Hari Dalmiya, Sadhvi Rithambara and Mahant Avaidya Nath.

Other leaders named in the case were former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, besides Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.

In an apparently unrelated move, Mr Advani on Friday apologised for reportedly insinuating that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her family held foreign bank accounts.

In his judgment, Justice Alok Kumar Singh of the Lucknow bench of the High Court had said there was no merit in CBI’s revision petition challenging the May 4, 2001 order of the special court which directed dropping of criminal conspiracy charges against them.

There are two sets of cases — one against Mr Advani and others who were on the dais at Ram Katha Kunj in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992 when the Babri Masjid was demolished, while the other case was against hundreds of thousands of unknown ‘kar sevaks’ who were in and around the disputed structure.

All the 21 were charged under sections 153A IPC (promoting enmity between classes), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505 (false statements, rumours etc. circulated with the intent to cause mutiny or disturb public peace).

The judge had noted that the CBI filed supplementary charge-sheet in May 2003 against Mr Advani and seven other leaders adding sections 147 IPC (rioting) and 149 (unlawful assembly). The trial in this case is proceeding in a Rae Bareli court.