Lucknow: The district court campus here was shut Monday for the next two days after a lawyer tested positive for coronavirus. It meant disruption of the schedule of the special court hearing the Babri Masjid demolition case. Former Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani was to depose through video conferencing Tuesday. Former Union Minister Murli Manohar Joshi was to depose Wednesday. However, the court will now not sit for the next two days and hence the Babri Masjid hearings will be deferred.
There is another problem apart from the disruption in the schedule due to the COVID-19 case. The National Informatics Centre (NIC) is yet to set up a video link at the CBI court here.
Durga Vahini founder Sadhvi Rithambara appeared in the special CBI court Monday. She denied her involvement in the demolition of the mosque and claiming that she was framed.
District judge Anil Kumar Ojha directed that the entire campus should be closed for the next two days. He took the decision after being informed that a bar association office-bearer had tested positive.
The Old High Court building, Roshan-ud-Daula building and the family court will also be closed for two days for their sanitisation. The special CBI court where the Babri Masjid trial is on is situated in the Old High Court building.
Special judge SK Yadav observed that the video conferencing facility was still not functional in the court. He fixed July 2 for recording the evidence of other witnesses. He did not pass any directions about the two accused, Advani and Joshi.
The court is currently recording the statements of 32 accused under section 313 of the CrPC. It is a stage in the trial that follows the examination of prosecution witnesses.
Responding to questions put before her, Sadhvi Rithambara rejected the charge that she conspired to demolish the disputed structure. Rithambara claimed that she was framed in the case due to political reasons. She was the 18th accused to depose before the court. Fourteen accused are still left to be examined at this stage.
The mosque in Ayodhya was demolished in December 1992 by ‘kar sevaks’. They claimed that an ancient Ram temple stood on the same site. The CBI court is conducting day-to-day hearings to complete the trial by August 31, as directed by the Supreme Court.