Kalyan Singh with UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh (left) in Lucknow on Monday. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)THE CBI on Monday moved an application before the special court (Ayodhya Prakaran) hearing the Babri Masjid demolition case to summon BJP leader Kalyan Singh to face trial in the case, soon after he demitted office as Rajasthan Governor.
Singh, who was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh when the mosque was brought down in 1992, joined the BJP in Lucknow on Monday.
His tenure as Rajasthan Governor ended on September 3 — on Monday, Kalraj Mishra, a former minister in the BJP government, took over as Governor.
The court directed CBI to provide proof that Singh no more enjoys any constitutional post, defence counsel K K Mishra said.
Moving the application, the CBI pleaded that Singh was charge-sheeted in 1993. It also pleaded that the Supreme Court in its order of April 19, 2017 had stated that Singh could not be brought to trial because of the constitutional immunity granted to governors under Article 361 of Constitution.
Addressing the media at the BJP office, Kalyan Singh said the opposition parties should make their stand on Ayodhya clear, PTI reported.
“Ayodhya is a sacred pilgrim spot. Construction of Lord Ram is a matter of faith for crores of people…” he said.
In 2017, a Supreme Court bench of Justices P C Ghose and Rohinton Nariman revived the criminal case in the Babri Masjid demolition case by allowing CBI to add a charge of criminal conspiracy against BJP leaders, including L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and Kalyan Singh.
In its 40-page order, the court had stated that the BJP leaders and “lakhs of unknown kar sewaks”, who were chargesheeted by the CBI, faced trial for the same offences — rioting, promoting enmity among different groups, making statements conducing to public mischief and imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration, among others. The court had also directed the special court to frame charges against Singh “as soon as he ceases to be Governor”.
