The court was to record the statement of Nritya Gopal Das by video conference from Ayodhya
Lucknow:
A special court that heard the Babri mosque demolition case on Tuesday expressed concern that the National Computer Center did not organize video links to record the accused’s statements, including the former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani.
The CBI court also sent a letter to the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh law about this.
The court had asked NIC, a central government agency, to arrange for the homes of 10 of the 32 accused who chose to videotape their statements.
The court was to record the statement of the head of the Ram temple trust, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, by videoconference from Ayodhya on Tuesday. But there was no video link in place.
Others on the list include former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Kalyan Singh and former union minister MM Joshi.
“This court had ordered the NIC to arrange for video connections to the homes of 10 defendants, but no response has been given so far,” said special judge SK Yadav in his order.
“The court will wait until June 24 and even if no response comes, the NIC will receive a reminder,” he added.
The statements are recorded under section 313 of the CPC, a stage in the trial after the examination of prosecution witnesses.
On May 8, the Supreme Court authorized the CBI court to use videoconferencing.
The special court offered the accused the option of video linkage, taking into account the COVID-19 pandemic and government guidelines on social distancing.
On Tuesday, the judge recorded the statement by the 15th defendant, Dharmadas, who denied his involvement in the demolition of Babri Masjid and the alleged plot.
Babri Masjid was demolished in December 1992 by “kar sevaks” claiming that a Ram temple had been held in the same place in Ayodhya before the mosque.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
