Babri mosque demolition case trial: BJP leader Uma Bharti appears before special court

BJP leader Uma Bharti on Thursday appeared in person before a special court conducting trial in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case, legal news website LiveLaw.in has reported.

Bharti alleged that the then central government got an FIR lodged against her and others in the demolition case in order to fulfil its political intentions, and on the basis of fabricated evidence they were falsely implicated under political pressure.

Rebutting the evidence produced by the prosecuting agency, CBI, she said that the witnesses deposed against her due to political enmity.

Bharti was deposing before special CBI judge SK Yadav under section 313 of the CrPC. Under these proceedings, the trial court enables the accused to plead for his or her innocence and rebut prosecution evidence. She said that she would produce her defense evidence. In this case, there are 32 accused.

Calling herself a "Ram Bhakt", Uma Bharti asserted that she took part in the (Ram Mandir) campaign with full faith and with a feeling of devotion towards Lord Ram.

Bharti added that she was a second-time MP when she took part in the temple campaign.

The special CBI court is currently recording the statements of 32 accused under CrPC section 313 (court's power to examine the accused), a stage in the trial that follows the examination of prosecution witnesses.

As the senior BJP leader came out of the court, she said, "I consider the law of India as Vedas, the court as the temple and the judge as a form of God. Whatever I said before him, I cannot comment on it, because judgment on those things is yet to come. Hence, whatever case is going on inside (the court), on those statements, I have nothing to say anything."

The 61-year-old saffron clad BJP leader is the 19th accused to depose before the court in the over 27-year-old case.

Thirteen other accused, including former deputy prime minister LK Advani and senior BJP leaders MM Joshi and Kalyan Singh are yet to be examined at this stage.

Their lawyers have indicated to the CBI court that they prefer to appear through video conference.

The mosque in Ayodhya was demolished in December 1992 by ''kar sevaks'' who claimed that an ancient Ram temple had stood on the same site. The CBI court is conducting day-to-day hearings to complete the trial by August 31, as directed by the Supreme Court.