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Framing of charges in Babri case postponed again

The special sessions judge trying the Babri Masjid case once again deferred framing charges, as 44 of the total 49 accused failed to turn up.

The accused comprise top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena and Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

The five who turned up at the hearing include Shiv Sena leader Moreshwar Save and retired IAS officer R N Srivastava.

The judge has fixed December 10 as the next date of hearing.

The BJP counsel informed the court that L K Advani and Dr Murli Manohar Joshi were held up in Delhi due to the current political developments, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh was out of town.

The Shiv Sena counsel said Sena leader Bal Thackeray could not appear as he was indisposed. He promised the leader would 'definitely' be present at the next hearing.

Earlier, the framing of charges was postponed on October 17 on the same ground -- only 34 of the accused were present in the court.

On September 9, the special additional sessions judge had ruled that there was prima facie charges against the accused.

The court has fixed charges against Advani, Dr Joshi, Sadhvi Ritambhara, Uma Bharti, Mahant Niritya Gopal Das, Ashok Singhal, Vinay Katiyar and Vijaye Raje Scindia, among others, under sections 147 (rioting), 153-a (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and race), 153-b (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion), 295-a (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief).

Kalyan Singh, the then Faizabad district magistrate Ravindra Nath Srivastava (who is now a BJP member) and then police chief Devendra Bahadur Roy (now a BJP MP) were also charged under section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to the court for screening of offenders).

Friday is the third time the court has extended the date for the formal handing over of charges.

UNI

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