LK Advani deposes in Babri case, cries political vendetta

LUCKNOW: Former deputy prime minister LK Advani on Friday denied his involvement in the alleged conspiracy along with ‘kar sevaks’ to demolish the disputed structure in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, pleading that he was unnecessarily dragged in the Babri mosque demolition case owing to political reasons.
Claiming himself to be completely innocent, Advani told Special CBI Judge SK Yadav in Lucknow that the investigation was conducted under political pressure and the chargesheet was forwarded on the basis of fabricated evidence.
Advani was deposing under Section 313 of CrPC through video-conferencing from Delhi.
The proceedings were mandatory in order to enable the 90-year-old BJP veteran, who is one of the 32 accused facing trial in the case, to plead his innocence if he so considered. The special court has been recording the statement of accused persons since July 4 under these provisions.
While the special judge put forth 1,050 questions already framed for the purpose, Advani answered them very cautiously. He denied every allegation of conspiracy and pressed that there was no occasion to make him stand on trial.
As the judge narrated him the version of certain video clippings, newspapers and other evidence relating to the 1992 incident, Advani shrugged off them saying that the evidence was totally false and the same were produced in the court due to political influence and ideological inclination.
As the judge indicated him the evidence towards his provocative speeches to 'kar sevaks', the Bharatiya Janata Party’s veteran leader said that the evidence was false and investigators included video cassettes and newspapers in the probe for political malice.
The judge described him the evidence furnished by CBI witness on the basis of a news item in an English newspaper published on October 24, 1990, about his arrest a day before with title ‘Advani arrested in Samastipur’.
The edition carried the news relating to call for Bharat Bandh by the leaders of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other organizations in protest against his arrest. The edition carried Shiv Sena leader Bala Saheb Thackeray’s statement that the ‘bandh will be peaceful’.
Even then some 'kar sevaks' succeeded to climb on the disputed structure and damaged it.
Some 'kar sevaks' lost their lives in police firing on October 10, 1990, during ‘Kar sewa’.
On completion of this description, the judge asked Advani online as to what he had to say about this.
The Advani’s deposition began at around 11 am on Friday as he appeared in the court online from Delhi along with his lawyer Mahipal Ahluwali.