Babri Masjid trial: Uma Bharti on list of accused appearing in court on Thursday

BJP leader Uma Bharti is among the accused asked to appear in person Thursday before a special court hearing the Babri Masjid demolition case.

The lawyers for BJP veterans L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Kalyan Singh indicated to the CBI court on Wednesday that they prefer to appear in court through video conferencing.

Special Judge S K Yadav had recently given this option to the accused who are yet to record their statements, asking them to provide their addresses so that arrangements can be made for video conferencing.

The court here is in the process of recording the statements of the 32 accused under section 313 of the CrPC, a stage in the trial which follows the completion of examination of prosecution witnesses.

On Wednesday, BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj appeared in the court, categorically denying that he conspired in the demolition of the mosque in Ayodhya.

The court issued a non-bailable warrant against an accused Om Prakash Pandey after his lawyer informed that the Azamgarh resident’s present whereabouts were not known to him now.

The lawyers for Advani, M M Joshi, Kalyan Singh, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, Jai Bhagwan Goel, Amar Nath Goel, Sudhir Kakkad, Acharya Dharmendra Dev, Dharmendra Singh Gujjar and R N Srivastava provided their addresses to the court.

Judge Yadav said it appeared that the remaining accused wanted to appear in person.

“Hence, the accused who have not submitted their addresses and have also not appeared in court so far for recording their statement are directed to appear before it on June 18,” the judge said.

The judge said he will continue to record the statements of the remaining accused till the National Informatics Centre makes arrangements for video conferencing.

The court has been conducting day-to-day proceedings in order to conclude the trial by August 31, as directed by the Supreme Court.

The Babri Masjid was demolished in December 1992 by "kar sevaks" who claimed that the mosque was built on the site of an ancient Ram temple.