Advani & Joshi Get Bail, CBI Spl Court To Hear Babri Case Daily

A special CBI court on Tuesday granted bail to BJP stalwarts LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, after they appeared before it in connection with the Babri Masjid demolition case. Bail was also granted to BJP leader Vinay Katiyar, VHP's Vishnu Hari Dalmia, and one-time Hindutva firebrand Sadhvi Rithambara, who also presented themselves before the court on Tuesday.

All six were given bail on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each by CBI Special judge SK Yadav. They appeared before the court for framing of charges, in the light of a Supreme Court order restoring the serious offence of criminal conspiracy against them.

The court, which is hearing two separate cases relating to the demolition of the 16th-century mosque, had granted bail to Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, Mahant Ram Vilas Vedanti, Baikunth Lal Sharma alias Prem Ji, Champat Rai Bansal, Mahant Dharma Das and Satish Pradhan earlier this month in the second matter.

Meanwhile, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday, strongly defended the BJP leaders who appeared before the special court in Lucknow, saying that they are innocent and will come out unscathed.

"Our leaders are innocent. They will come out unscathed," Naidu, a former BJP president, told reporters, adding that he would not comment beyond that, as the matter is in the court.

Naidu also noted that the NDA government did not move to withdraw the case against the top saffron leaders.

The Congress demanded the resignation of Union Minister Uma Bharti, who has been charged with criminal conspiracy, and asked the Prime Minister to uphold the law and the Constitution.

"One of the accused, Uma Bharti is a Union Cabinet Minister. Having been chargesheeted, she must resign. Prime Minister must come forward and uphold the rule of law and the Constitution," AICC incharge of communications Randeep Surjewala said.

(With inputs from PTI)

Video editor: Purnendu Pritam