Tenure of special judge trying Babri Masjid demolition case extended: UP to SC

The Uttar Pradesh government Friday told the Supreme Court that it has complied with its direction and extended the tenure of a special judge who is conducting trial in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case involving BJP veterans L K Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharti.

Special judge Surendra Kumar Yadav, who is conducting the trial in Lucknow, was set to retire on September 30. The apex court on July 19 ordered extension of his tenure till delivery of verdict in the case.

At the outset, the bench said it has gone through the affidavit filed by the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh as well as the September 5 office memo in this regard.

"We take the affidavit and office memo on record. According to the office memo, the compliance of our order is complete. We are satisfied that the needful has been done," the bench said while disposing of the matter.

Senior advocate Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for Uttar Pradesh, told the bench that they have complied with the top court's earlier direction in