A special court hearing the Babri mosque demolition case recorded the statement of former BJP MP Ram Vilas Vedanti on Tuesday and asked 11 other accused to appear before it over the next three days.
Vedanti, a religious leader who was part of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas which campaigned for a Ram temple in Ayodhya, was the only accused who made a personal appearance in the CBI court here on Tuesday.
Special judge S K Yadav exempted 11 others from personal appearance on Tuesday but fixed dates for their presence on the three following days.Thirty-two people, including former deputy prime minister L K Advani, are accused in the case.
The court is recording their statements under section 313 of the CrPC, a stage in the trial which follows the completion of examination of witnesses by the prosecution.
The special judge has now directed Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Satish Pradhan and Pawan Kumar Pandey to appear before it on June 10 for recording their statements. It asked Lallu Singh, Kamlesh Tripathi, Santosh Dubey and Ram Chandra Khatri to remain personally present in the court on June 11.
Similarly, accused Jai Bhagwan Goel, Om Prakash Pandey, Amar Nath Goel and Jai Bhan Singh Pawaiya have been directed to appear on June 12. Vedanti is the fifth accused so far to record his statement.
Earlier, the court had recorded the statements of Vijai Bahadur Singh, Gandhi Yadav, Prakash Sharma and Ramji Gupta.
On Monday, it had put BJP veterans L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti on notice to appear in person when asked to record their statements. No date was immediately fixed for them. The three leaders were earlier exempted from personal appearance in court till further orders.
Other accused include former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, Vinay Katiyar, Sadhvi Rithambara, Sakshi Maharaj and Champat Rai. The court has been conducting day to day proceedings in order to conclude the trial by August 31, as directed by the Supreme Court.
The Babri Masjid was demolished in December 1992 by "kar sevaks" who claimed that the mosque in Ayodhya was built on the site of an ancient Ram temple.
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