In Uttar Pradesh, the special CBI court has deferred till May 30 framing of charges in the Ayodhya disputed structure demolition case against Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders including Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, Mahant Ram Vilas Vedanti, Baikunth Lal Sharma alias Prem Ji, Champat Rai Bansal, Dharma Das and Satish Pradhan. <br/><br/>Five accused were not present in the court today. Postponing the matter till May 30, the court said no further adjournment would be allowed.<br/><br/>Mr Pradhan was present in the court and wanted that the charges be framed against him today itself. Special CBI court judge S K Yadav did not accept his plea and said that the other five accused in the case were not present in the court. Since they have sought exemption from appearance today, it would not be possible to frame charges against him alone.<br/><br/>The court, hearing the 1992 Ayodhya disputed structure demolition cases, is likely to frame additional charges tomorrow against former deputy prime minister L K Advani and other BJP leaders, following the Supreme Court order restoring the serious criminal conspiracy offence against them. <br/><br/>The Supreme Court had on April 19 directed that Advani, Union Minister Uma Bharti and BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi will face trial on conspiracy charges. <br/><br/>It had also transferred their case from Raebareli to Lucknow. Besides the three BJP leaders, the conspiracy charge would also be invoked against BJP MP Vinay Katiar, Sadhvi Ritambara and Vishnu Hari Dalmia, who were being tried at Raebareli.
News On AIR | May 25, 2017 7:30 PM
Special court defers framing of charges in Ayodhya case