Reprieve for Advani, 20 others in Ayodhya case

By Our Special Correspondent

LUCKNOW, MAY 4. The special CBI court trying the Babri Masjid demolition case today put on hold the trial of 21 accused in the case, including the Union Ministers, Mr. L. K. Advani, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi and Ms. Uma Bharti, several Shiv Sena and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders, until ``defects'' in the Uttar Pradesh Government notification referring the case to the court were rectified.

In its February 8 order, the Allahabad High Court had held that the second notification issued by the State Government referring to the special CBI court for trial case no. 198 of 1992 registered in Ayodhya was faulty and that the court could not proceed against the eight accused who had challenged their trial until a rectified notification was issued. The accused later challenged their trial on the basis of the High Court order and the Special CBI judge, Mr. S. K. Shukla, today accepted the plea. He also brought into the High Court's ambit 13 more accused saying they could not be proceeded against unless the defects in the notification were rectified.

Besides the three Union Ministers, others who got an immediate reprieve as a result of today's order include the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr. Kalyan Singh, the VHP leaders, Mr. Ashok Singhal, Mr. Giriraj Kishore, Sadhvi Ritambhara, Paramhans Ramchandra Das, and Shiv Sena leaders, Mr. Bal Thackeray and Mr. Moreshwar Save.

The CBI judge said consequent upon the High Court judgment, two courses were open to him - to keep on hold trial of all the accused till defects in the notification were removed or to separate the joint chargesheet into two. He opted for the second course. While the trial of 21 accused would be on hold, proceedings would continue against the remaining 26 accused.

The judge ordered the 26 accused, including the then Faizabad District Magistrate, Mr. R. N. Srivastava, and the Superintendent of Police, Mr. D. B. Rai, to present themselves in court on June 8 for framing of charges against them.

Taking a serious view of their complicity in the incidents at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, the judge said they were aware of the repercussions of a demolition and were aware of the threat to the disputed structure. Still they did not make proper police arrangements and even deflated the security cover. They also did not make attempts to counter attacks on mediapersons by ``karsevaks'' on the fateful day.

The legal anomaly arose from the State Government issuing two different notifications - the first on September 9, 1993, referring case no. 197 to the special court and the second on October 8, 1993, referring case no. 198 also to the same court. The second notification was found defective by the High Court. While only eight accused had challenged their trial on the basis of the second notification in the High Court, the CBI court today tagged 13 others with them as all of them were placed in similar circumstances.

The CBI court judgment is likely to generate a serious political controversy with the State Government having already taken the view that the second notification was issued in haste during the President's rule. The Government of the day was in an undue hurry to implicate senior BJP leaders in the case and it overlooked legal implications of its action, BJP leaders said.

The Opposition has indicated plans to put the Rajnath Singh Government in the dock over the issue. Opposition leaders have been demanding that the Government issue a rectified notification to try the accused. ``The accused have not been discharged. Only their trial has been put on hold on technical grounds,'' say the Opposition leaders.

Mr. P. K. Chaube, CBI counsel, said the option to appeal against the CBI court verdict was open to him. However, it was not for the prosecuting agency to dictate to the State Government to issue a fresh notification, he added.

We will go by the law: Rajnath

PTI reports from New Delhi:

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr. Rajnath Singh, today said his Government would do ``whatever is lawful'' in the Ayodhya case and denied that it was trying to protect ``anyone''.

``We will go by whatever is lawful. What I said two months ago is still relevant,'' he said in reaction to the CBI court putting on hold trial of 21 accused in the case.

No Cong. comment

The Congress today declined any immediate comment on the order of the CBI court, saying it would react only after studying the judgment thoroughly.

``We are awaiting the order of the special court. The party would examine it first before reacting,'' the party spokesman, Mr. Anand Sharma, told reporters.

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