Advani, Uma charged with criminal conspiracy
According To India Vote Kar
A CBI court in Lucknow on Tuesday framed criminal conspiracy charges against former deputy PM L K Advani, BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi and Union minister Uma Bharti, among several others, in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case.
The court granted bail to all the accused on personal bonds of Rs 50,000 each, rejecting the saffron notables’ plea for dropping the conspiracy charges against them claiming no role in the demolition, and they were not given any evidence to support the charges.
But the special court rejected their plea. Advani (89), Joshi (83), Uma (58), BJP MP Vinay Katiyar (62), Sadhvi Ritambhara (53) and Vishnu Hari Dalmiya (89), were all present in the court at its exhortation.
Other six accused who appeared before the CBI court included Ram Janmabhoomi Trust chief Nritya Gopal Das, Ram Vilas Vedanti, Baikunth Lal Sharma alias Prem Ji, Champat Rai Bansal, Dharma Das and Satish Pradhan. They have already been granted bail on previous hearings.
The accused remained present in the court for nearly three hours before CBI special judge S K Yadav framed the conspiracy charges against them.
The hearing will continue on Wednesday when the court will examine the prosecution witnesses. The SC has ordered day-to-day hearing in the case to finish it within two years.
As the court proceeding started on Tuesday , the counsel for the six accused moved a bail application on behalf of Advani and others which the court allowed.
Thereafter, all 12 accused moved another application, pleading for their acquittal from conspiracy charges, which was rejected by the CBI judge. An additional section of 120 B of the IPC (criminal conspiracy) has been invoked against them.
They already face charges of making assertions prejudicial to national integration and injuring or defiling a place of worship.
Other charges include indulging in deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings, uttering statements leading to public mischief, rioting and unlawful assembly . The maximum punishment in such a case would be five years in jail or a fine or both.
In all, 21 Sangh parivar members were chargesheeted by the CBI after the 1992 demolition for allegedly instigating mobs and conspiring to raze the disputed structure.
Many of them, including Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and VHP’s Acharya Giriraj Kishore, Ashok Singhal, Paramhans Ram Chandra Das and Mahant Avaidyanath, have since died. Kalyan Singh, who was UP CM when the structure was razed, was also one of accused, but enjoys immunity under the Constitution for being the Rajasthan governor.
All were booked in a separate FIR while the main FIR had been lodged against the lakhs of karsewaks for demolishing the structure.
Earlier, the accused BJP bosses were were greeted by chief minister Aditya Nath Yogi on their arrival at the VVIP guest house in Lucknow on Tuesday .
Source: timesofindia.com
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