LUCKNOW, May 24:
The path was paved for the trial in the high-profile Ayodhya demolition case to commence after Shiv Sena leader Satish Pradhan today surrendered before the special CBI court which later granted him bail on bonds of Rs 20,000 each. All 28 accused have surrendered in the case and the fresh trial will start once the court frames charges under the Indian Penal Code sections related to criminal conspiracy against the top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party– Lal Krishna Advani, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and Union Minister Uma Bharti.
Two other accused former MLA Pawan Pandey and Santosh Dubey, both of Shiv Sena, too accompanied Pradhan in the court. Both Pandey and Dubey had already surrendered before the court and are on bail.
On May 20, five of the accused had surrendered before the court here and were later granted bail by Special Judge Suresh Kumar Yadav. Pradhan was also expected to surrender on Saturday but his counsel sought time from the court till today as he was in Mumbai and unwell.
According to lawyers, after all the 28 accused surrendered, the court will frame fresh charges under Section 120(B) of the IPC against the six accused of the Rae Bareli court and then they will have to surrender afresh.
These six accused are senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, Union Minister Uma Bharti, BJP MP Vinay Katiyar, Sadhvi Ritambhara and Vishnu Hari Dalmia.
Former UP CM and present Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh, too, was among the accused but he had got immunity for his constitutional post.
On Saturday, former MP Ram Vilas Vedanti, Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders Ganpat Rai, Baikunth Lal Sharma, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das and Dharam Das had surrendered. They were granted bail on bonds of Rs 20,000 each.
Earlier, trial of these seven leaders was being held in Rae Bareli, but recently, the Supreme Court had ordered to shift at one place in Lucknow. The apex court on April 19 had passed the order in response to CBI’s appeal challenging withdrawal of conspiracy charges against senior BJP leaders, including Advani.
The apex court also directed that the trial against the BJP leaders should be completed in two years. The matter will now be heard in Lucknow Court and the accused will be examined on a day-to-day basis.
The apex court also ordered that no adjournment would be given under normal circumstances and no judge, hearing the case, would be transferred.
The Allahabad High Court had earlier dropped the charges of criminal conspiracy. Advani and Dr Joshi, along with Bharti and Katiyar (all BJP), Sadhvi Rithambra, Acharya Giriraj Kishore, Ashok Singhal and Vishnu Hari Dalmia (VHP) are facing trial for making inflammatory speeches from the dais at Ramkatha Kunj prior to the razing of the 16th century mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
The spot was just 200 meters away from the disputed structure. Kishore and Singhal have since passed away.
The Supreme Court had said there cannot be two trials — one at Rae Bareili against Advani and others and another at Lucknow against ‘karsevaks’ — in connection with the demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
Champat Rai Bansal, Mahant Avaidyanath, Paramhans Ramchandra, Ram Vilas Vedanti, Mahamandaleshwar Jagdish Muni Maharaj, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, Dharam Das Chola, Satish Nagar, Moreshwar Save and Baikunth Lal Sharma are also facing trial for conspiracy charges.
According to prosecution, there are two cases 198/92 in which seven BJP leaders, including Kalyan Singh, had been made accused while in other case of 197/92 there are 22 accused. However, in both the cases, the number of accused were more but several have died during the trial.
While the case 198/92 was underway at Rae Bareli in which till date around 50 people have recorded their evidence but as Section 120(B) (criminal conspiracy) would be added, these people would have to give their evidence again.
In the 198/92 case, whose trial is underway in Lucknow, around 195 people have testified but still around 750 witnesses remain.
Now the trial will commence against the accused on the charges under section 153, 153(A), (promoting enmity) 505 (Statements conducing to public mischief), 147 (Punishment for rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly) and 120(B) (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. (UNI)
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