Lucknow: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Union Minister Uma Bharti arrived at a special CBI court in Lucknow on Tuesday where charges are to be framed against them for their alleged role in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case.
Last week, counsel for the accused had moved a plea in the court to exempt Advani, Joshi, and Bharti from personal appearance, but it was turned down.
Massive security deployment has been made outside the court.
Here are the LIVE UPDATES:
– The court is now dictating the order on the discharge application.
– The defence counsel moves a “discharge application” in which the accused claimed not guilty in the December 1992 razing of the mosque at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.
– All six were given bail on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each by CBI Special Judge SK Yadav.
– Bail is also granted to BJP leader Vinay Katiyar, VHP’s Vishnu Hari Dalmia and one-time Hindutva firebrand Sadhvi Ritambara.
– A special CBI court grants bail to BJP stalwarts LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti.
– BJP leader Vinay Katiyar and one-time Hindutva firebrand Sadhvi Ritambara also present themselves before the court in the politically sensitive case.
– Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu exudes confidence that the senior BJP leaders will come out unscathed in the CBI court hearing today.
– BJP stalwarts LK Advani, MM Joshi, Uma Bharti reach special CBI court in Lucknow in connection with Babri Masjid demolition case.
– Senior Hindutva leader Ram Vilas Vedanti, an accused in the case, says that he was among those who had pulled down the structure in Ayodhya. “I was one of those who had pulled down the dome of the disputed structure in Ayodhya,” Vedanti, who is in Lucknow to appear before the special court in the Ayodhya case, tells reporters.
– BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj says “no power on Earth” could stop the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. The Babri Masjid versus Ram temple debate should be dropped now, he said, claiming that those who had opposed the construction of the temple were now Ram bhakts.
– The UP Chief Minister holds a meeting with Advani and other senior leaders.
– Yogi was waiting at the guest house for Advani along with other state leaders.
– The UP CM welcomes Advani with a bouquet of flowers as the former deputy prime minister stops at the VVIP guest house before leaving for the special court.
– Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath meets senior BJP leader LK Advani who is in Lucknow to appear before a special CBI court in connection with a case relating to the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
– Bharti rejects the charges of the opposition for conspiring in the matter. “It was an open protest, as it was during the time of emergency. What conspiracy was there in it I don’t know,” she adds.
– Union Minister Uma Bharti says she is not a ‘criminal’. “It is the matter of God and in such a case I can only have expectations from him. Since I have taken part in it with devotion, I don’t consider myself as a criminal.”
– Katiyar trains his guns on Samajwadi Party Patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, saying that the case should have been filed against him as he has already accept his crimes. “Nobody destroyed the Masjid, Mulayam Singh started the firing, and he himself has accepted that 16 people were killed. He murdered them, he should be booked for it. Babri Masjid was not there, the place belongs to the Ram temple and even the High Court has passed the order,” he says.
– BJP leader Vinay Katiyar assures that he will follow the rulings. “I don’t want to say anything on this, court has to take the decision and we will follow it. The court has issued summons against us. We will appear before the court and will see what will happen,” Katiyar tells news agency ANI.
– All the accused are facing charges of conspiring to bring down the mosque.
– Charges would also be framed against Sadhwi Ritambhara, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Vinay Katiyar and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Vishnu Hari Dalmia.
– Charges against six others accused in the matter – Mahant Ram Vilas Vedanti, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, Baikunth Lal Sharma, Dharm Das, Champat Rai Bansal and Shiv Sena’s Satish Pradhan, who were granted bail, will also be framed today.
– The leaders will appear today before the Special CBI judge S K Yadav.
– A special CBI court in Lucknow will on Tuesday frame charges against Bharatiya Janata Party leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
