MillenniumPost
Nation

Babri case: Court asks CBI witness to appear today

A special court hearing the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case, on Wednesday issued summons to a CBI witness, asking him to appear before it Thursday.
Special Judge S K Yadav issuedthe summons to the witness after the CBI's counsel furnished a list of the 196 witnesses examined by courts in Lucknow and 57 in Raebareli to the lawyers of BJP leader L K Advani and the other accused in the case.

The defence counsel also sought copies of statements of these witnesses which were provided to them.

Subsequently, the court issued summons to the CBI witness. Details about the witness were not immediately available.

The judge had yesterday framed charges against former deputy prime minister Advani (89), BJP veteran M M Joshi (83), Union minister Uma Bharti (58), BJP MP Vinay Katiyar (62), VHP's Vishnu Hari Dalmiya (89) and one-time Hindutva firebrand Sadhvi Rithambara (53).

The Supreme Court had ordered restoration of the conspiracy charge against them on April 19 in connection with the case of demolition of the 16th-century structure in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

All the six were granted bail by judge Yadav on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each after rejecting the CBI's opposition to their bail plea.

The charge of conspiracy is in addition to the existing charges against them for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion for which they are already facing trial.

The apex court had, while restoring the charge of criminal conspiracy, directed clubbing of the two cases relating to the demolition. The court had also ordered that the trial be concluded in two years.

Besides the six, conspiracy charges were also framed against Ramvilas Vedanti, Baikunth Lal Sharma, Champat Rai Bansal, Mahant Nritya Gopaldas, Dharam Das and Satish Pradhan -- all of whom were allegedly present when the structure in Ayodhya was pulled down.

The accused are also facing charges of having made assertions "prejudicial to national integration and injuring or defiling a place of worship".
Next Story
Share it