The special court of the CBI where the Babri trial takes place is located in the old building of the High Court.
Lucknow:
The district court campus was closed on Monday for the next two days after a lawyer tested positive for coronavirus, also disrupting the timing of the special court hearing the Babri Masjid demolition case.
Earlier, former Prime Minister LK Advani was scheduled to testify by videoconference on Tuesday and former Union minister Murli Manohar Joshi on Wednesday, the two days the court will no longer sit.
Apart from the disruption of the calendar due to the COVID-19 case, the National Computer Center (NIC) has not yet set up a video link to the CBI court.
Durga Vahini’s founder Sadhvi Rithambara appeared before the CBI special court on Monday, denying her involvement in the demolition of the mosque and claiming that it had been supervised.
District judge Anil Kumar Ojha ordered that the entire campus be closed for the next two days after being informed that a member of the bar had tested positive and was in hospital.
The old High Court building, the Roshan-ud-Daula building and the family court will also be closed for two days for disinfection.
The special court of the CBI where the trial of Babri Masjid takes place is located in the old building of the High Court.
Special Judge S K Yadav observed that the videoconference facility was still not functional in court and set July 2 as the recording of the depositions of the other witnesses.
He gave no instructions on the two defendants, Advani and Joshi, whose statements were to be videotaped Tuesday and Wednesday.
The court is currently recording the statements of 32 accused under section 313 of the CPC, a stage in the trial following the questioning of prosecution witnesses.
Responding to questions posed before her in court, Sadhvi Rithambara dismissed the accusation of having conspired to demolish the structure in question.
Rithambara said she was charged for political reasons.
She was the 18th accused to testify in court. Fourteen accused remain to be examined at this stage.
The Ayodhya mosque was demolished in December 1992 by “kar sevaks” who claimed that an ancient Ram temple was on the same site.
The IWC court is conducting day-to-day hearings to complete the trial by August 31, in accordance with instructions from the Supreme Court.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
