On Friday, Veteran BJP leader L K Advani denied any involvement in the conspiracy to pull down the disputed structure in the 1992 Babri masjid demolition case while recording his statement before a special CBI court.
Through video conferencing, the statement of the 92-year-old former deputy prime minster in the court of special Judge S K Yadav with his counsels Vimal Kumar Srivastava, KK Mishra and Abhishek Ranjan present in the court was taken.
All including CBI lawyers Lalit Singh, P Chakravarti and RK Yadav were present.
Involvement in the alleged conspiracy along with ‘Kar sevaks’ to demolish the disputed Babri Masjid structure in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992 was denied. Advani pleaded he was completely innocent and was unnecessarily dragged in the case owing to political reasons which is wrong.
He wanted to furnish his defence at an appropriate stage of the proceedings.
The special CBI judge was informed by Advani that the investigation was conducted under political pressure and the charge sheet was forwarded on the basis of fabricated evidence in total.
Statements by L K Advani on the Babri Masjid Demolition Case
Advani answered 1,050 questions very cautiously, denying every allegation of conspiracy and argued that there was no occasion to make him stand on trial by the special judge.
Narrations of the contents of some video clippings, newspaper reports and other evidences relating to the Babri Masjid demolition incident in 1992 was given by the Judge; saying they were totally false and produced in the court due to political influence and ideological inclination, Advani shrugged off all the allegations.
The BJP veteran referring to evidences regarding his alleged provocative speeches to Kar sevaks, explained to the Judge that the evidence was false and the investigators included the video cassettes and newspapers for political malice and under political influence
A piece of evidence furnished by the CBI witness on the basis of an English newspaper published on October 24, 1990, about his arrest with the headline ‘Advani arrested in Samastipur’ was also referred by the Judge.
News relating to call for Bharat Bandh by the leaders of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other organisations in protest against his arrest were also published in that edition.
Shiv Sena leader Balasaheb Thackeray‘s statement that ‘Bandh will be peaceful’ was also questioned. Some Kar sevaks even then succeeded in climbing on the disputed Babri Masjid structure and damaged it.
On October 10, 1990, during ‘Kar seva’ some Kar sevaks lost their lives in police firing.
The judge asked Advani as to what he had to say about that incident.
Advani responded that except the fact of the arrest, other deposition is false and the same had been included in the investigation due to political malice and ideological differences giving the facts a colour.
At around 11 a.m along with his lawyer Mahipal Ahluwali, advani’s deposition began as he appeared in the court online from Delhi.
The judge after the recording of the statement asked his office to send a copy of it to CBI’s Delhi office which would get Advani’s signature on it and send it back to the court.
Earlier, the CBI had issued charge sheet to Advani along with others in the case. But he was discharged from the case as innocent by the Allahabad High Court.
The Supreme Court in 2017 on a CBI petition directed him to face trial on the charges of conspiracy in the Babri Masjid Demolition Case.
The statement of BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi had been recorded by the special court on Thursday.
86-year-old Joshi asserted that he was innocent and implicated in the case by the then Congress government at the Centre when prosecution witnesses in the Babri masjid demolition case held as “liars”.
Under Section 313 of CrPC during which they get an opportunity to refute the prosecution evidence against them, the Babri masjid demolition trial is presently at the stage of recording of statements of 32 accused in the case.
Since July 4 under these provisions, the special court has been recording the statement of accused persons.
‘kar sevaks’ who claimed that an ancient Ram temple stood at the site, demolished the mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
The Ram temple movement at that time was led by Advani and Joshi.
The court is conducting day-to-day hearing in the case to complete its trial by August 31 as directed by the Supreme Court and has already recorded statements of BJP stalwarts like Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharti.
Advani’s statement was recorded days before a grand ground breaking event planned on August 5 for a Ram temple at Ayodhya.
A galaxy of political leaders including the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Advani had been invited to attend the event.
The Supreme Court’s five-judge Constitution bench had ruled that the 2.77 acre land claimed by both Hindus and Muslims would be handed over to a government-run trust for the building of a temple, last year.
A five-acre plot at another site in Ayodhya for Muslims was announced by the Court.
The Allahabad High Court dismissed a plea for stoppage on laying down the foundation stone for building the temple at the August 5 “Bhoomi Pujan” ceremony.
An official spokesperson said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will go to Ayodhya on Saturday. But no elaborative explanation was given.
