A special CBI court in Lucknow has directed the Govt. of Uttar Pradesh to immediately provide video conferencing equipment & infrastructure to conduct day-to-day proceedings in the Babri Masjid demolition case. The order passed on May 14 by Special CBI Judge S K Yadav follows an Apex Court directive on May 8 asking it to conclude the trial & pronounce its decision by Aug 31. Top BJP leaders including L.K. Advani, M.M. Joshi and Uma Bharti as well as VHP leader Champat Rai Bansal, among others, are accused in the case.

In the order, the Judge directed the Chief Secretary (administration) & Chief Secretary (justice) to make the necessary arrangements, in order to not fall in contempt of the Supreme Court’s directions. The judge said there was “only one video conferencing room available” in the old building of District Courts, Lucknow, & that it was being utilised by other Lower Courts for summoning accused on remand via video conferencing & other judicial purposes. The court said that the video conferencing room cannot be transacted to conduct the Babri Masjid trial.

The special CBI Court is located in Kaiserbagh locality of Lucknow, which is a Covid-19 hotspot, as per available information.

A senior official privy to the development said that “Given the constraints under the lockdown, the authorities may also mull shifting the special Court to a location which is not a Covid-19 hotspot. Alternatively, adequate infrastructure & equipment will have to be fixed in the current court to ensure a seamless video conferencing of the trial".

On Friday, the special CBI Court decided to resume Court proceedings through video conferencing from Monday after the defence counsel sought to cross-examine three prosecution witnesses. The defence counsels have given an undertaking that they will be “brief” in their cross-examination. With prosecution evidence over, the trial is in its last leg as the court is to record statements of all 32 accused under Section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

However, given the lack of internet infrastructure & voluminous questions prepared by the Central Bureau of Investigation to question each accused, the trial may again miss the Aug 31 deadline, especially if the accused choose to produce witnesses in their defence. On March 26, the news agency reported that the CBI had prepared a list of nearly 1,000 questions to confront three accused who were summoned by the Court for questioning, days before the nationwide lockdown was announced.

The Court last week also ordered sanitising of its premises to prevent the spread of the contagion. On July 19, 2019, the Top Court had extended the special CBI Judge’s tenure till the completion of the trial & delivery of verdict. The Supreme Court said then that the extension would only be for the purpose of concluding the trial & delivering the verdict in the case. The judge, who was to retire on Sept 30, 2019, was also asked to deliver the verdict within nine months -- by April 20. 

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