Special court records statement of one accused

LUCKNOW : The special CBI court (Ayodhya case) on Thursday recorded statement of Vijay Bahadur, one of the 32 accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

Only six of the 32 accused summoned by the court to record their statements in the case had turned up. Vijay Bahadur of VHP, former BJP MP Vinay Katiyar, former Shiv Sena MLA Pawan Pandey, former MP Ram Vilas Vedanti, Santosh Dubey and Gandhi Yadav appeared before the court of Surendra Kumar Yadav “Recording of statements is a long process. Each accused has to go through 1,047 questions and thereafter record their statements,” said lawyer Manish Tripathi, who is representing Pawan Pandey in court.

The court has recorded presence of the six accused and has summoned the remaining five, whose statement could not be recorded on Thursday, again on Friday,” said Tripathi.

The court has to record statements of the accused under section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and give them a chance to plead their innocence.

The prosecution had wrapped up examination of witnesses by March 6 and the court asked some of the accused to appear before it on March 24 for recording their statements. But the proceedings did not take place as the court closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Court proceedings resumed on May 18.

The Supreme Court had on May 8 fixed August 31 as deadline for the CBI court to pronounce its judgment in the case.

The CBI, which has investigated the case, has presented all its 351 witnesses before the special court.

CBI HAS PRESENTED ALL ITS 351 WITNESSES BEFORE THE SPECIAL COURT.