Image Source: Indian Express

A special CBI court on Friday recorded the statement of veteran BJP leader L K Advani in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case. The statement of the 92-year-old former deputy prime minister, who is an accused in the case, was recorded through video link before the court in Lucknow under section 313 of CrPC.

On Thursday, BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi too deposed before the court of Special Judge S K Yadav in Babri Masjid case through video conference. Ram Chandra Khatria and Shiv Sena MP Satish Pradhan, accused in the same case, too recorded his statement on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.

The court is recording the statements of a total of 32 accused under Section 313 of CrPC to enable them to plead their innocence, if they want to. The court is conducting day-to-day hearings to conclude the trial by August 31 as directed by the Supreme Court.

On Monday, it recorded the statement of accused Sudhir Kakkad who appeared in person, though earlier he wanted to depose through a video link. Like the other accused, Kakkad claimed that he was innocent and was falsely implicated by the then Congress-led central government for political reasons.

The mosque in Ayodhya was demolished on December 6, 1992 by �kar sevaks� who claimed that an ancient Ram temple had originally stood on the same site. Advani and Joshi were leading the Ram temple movement during that time.

Delivering its verdict in the politically-sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case in Ayodhya, the Supreme Court in November last year unanimously handed over the disputed land to the Ram Temple trust and said that the Sunni Wakf Board will be granted 5 acres of land in �suitable, prominent place in Ayodhya� to make good their loss of a mosque.