Babri Masjid Demolition: LK Advani, 8 Others to Depose Online

LK Advani, Kalyan Singh and Dr MM Joshi are among those who will depose before a special CBI court in Lucknow.

(Photo: The Quint)

Nine accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case of 1992, including former deputy prime minister LK Advani, former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh, BJP leader Dr MM Joshi and Ram Janmabhoomi Trust chairman Nritya Gopal Das, will depose before a special CBI court in Lucknow, through video-conferencing from Tuesday, 23 June.

The special CBI court, on Saturday, sent a directive to the director of National Informatics Centre (NIC), a government of India body, to make arrangements for video-conferencing from addresses furnished by these accused, to record their statements under Section 313 of CrPC.

All accused would have to answer at least 1,000 questions based on evidence produced by prosecution agency CBI.

“The special court informs the accused about facts and evidence that came up during trial and directs them to give their statement.”

CBI counsel Lalit Singh

Thirteen accused have deposed so far and the court may follow similar proceedings with others, said Singh.

While Advani will depose on 30 June, Joshi on 1 July, Singh on 2 July, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das on 23 June, R N Srivastava on 22 June, Jai Bhagwan Das on 24 June, Amar Nath Goel on 25 June, Sudhir Kakkad on 26 June, and Acharya Dharmendra Dev on 29 June.

Earlier, on Saturday, one of the accused, Ram Chandra Khatri was produced before special judge S K Yadav through video-conferencing from district jail, Sonipat, where he is lodged in connection with another case. However, his statement could not be recorded because of poor connectivity.