Babri cases still drag in UP courts

It has been almost 17 years since the Babri Masjid was pulled down but the two cases relating to it continue to drag painfully in two Uttar Pradesh courts....

It has been almost 17 years since the Babri Masjid was pulled down but the two cases relating to it continue to drag painfully in two Uttar Pradesh courts. While one case is pending in a Special Court in Rae Bareli,the other is in a Lucknow court.

In the case with the Rae Bareli court,the CBI has so far presented eight of the 49 witnesses it plans to produce. The eighth witness,Chandra Kishore Mishra,was presented on Monday,a day when findings of the Justice Liberhan Committee created ripples.

Mishra,a reporter,is an eye-witness. The next date in this case has been fixed for December 19, CBI counsel K P Singh told The Indian Express over the telephone. He added his statement is yet to be concluded. He said it was not necessary that we would produce our all witnesses in the court.

According to him,the CBI has filed chargesheet against eight people in this case. They are senior BJP leaders L K Advani,M M Joshi,Vinay Katiyar,Bhartiya Janshakti leader Uma Bharti,Sadhvi Ritambhara and VHP leaders Vishnu Hari Dalmiya,Giriraj Kishore and Ashok Singhal. They are facing charges under sections 153A,153B,505,147 and 149.

Of the witnesses presented,the CBI considers Md Aslam and Awadhesh Updhyaya,both independent witnesses,as important. They were eyewitnesses. They have mentioned about the speeches made by the accused persons on the day of incident in their statement, Singh said. He confirmed that both had mentioned in their statement that the accused persons had delivered provocative speeches.

Two other important witnesses are Jitendra Kumar Mishra and Ram Bahadur Mishra,who were then posted as sub-inspectors in the Local Intelligence Units in the UP Police. Both had recorded the speeches delivered by the accused persons as part of their duty, Singh added.

The CBI took over the case from the Uttar Pradesh Police in August 1993.

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The case took a turn when Advani was discharged by the Rae Bareli court. The magistrate court was of the view that Advani was not instigating the kar sevaks and his speech did not amount to hurt the feelings of other communities, said Zafaryab Jilani,a lawyer associated with the Babri Masjid Action Committee. He said he filed a revision petition before the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad HC against Advanis discharge. He added the court allowed his revision petition.

Jilani,however,expressed unhappiness over the progress in the case. I think the case may take three to four years if the CBI presents witnesses with the same speed, he said.

In the case pending in the Lucknow court,which is also moving slowly,49 people have been named accused.