A special CBI court completed recording of statements of the accused in 1992 case. (Representational)
A special CBI court in Lucknow completed on Tuesday the recording of statements of the accused in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case.
Deposing before CBI special judge SK Yadav through video conferencing from Thane in Maharashtra, former Shiv Sena MP Satish Pradhan claimed that he was falsely implicated in the case due to political vendetta and maintained that he was completely innocent.
Of the 32 accused in the case, Mr Pradhan was the last on the list.
The judge separated the case against the last accused Om Prakash Pandey, who is not traceable as his family told the CBI that he had become a monk 15-16 years ago and did not return home since then.
The court has already declared him an absconder and has initiated proceedings to attach his property.
It inferred from a CBI report that Om Prakash Pandey was neither traceable nor was there any possibility of him being traced in the near future. The court, however, directed the CBI to produce him if he is caught.
The court separated Om Prakash Pandey's file, as otherwise the trial proceedings would have to be halted.
The court has to conclude the trial by August 31, 2020 in compliance with a Supreme Court order.
As the proceedings under Section 313 of CrPC were completed on Tuesday, during which they got an opportunity to record their statement, the court has now fixed July 30 to enable the accused to furnish their defence, including producing witnesses to support their contention.
After the exercise is over, final arguments will be held followed by the judgement of the court.
The special court has been recording the statements of the accused since July 4 under section 313 of CrPC.
Former deputy prime minister LK Advani and BJP veteran MM Joshi, who were among those leading the Ram temple movement at that time, had deposed last week through video conferencing.
The court has also recorded statements of BJP stalwarts like Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharti, both of whom appeared in person.