The accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case did not produce any witness from their side while only one of them, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, submitted documentary evidence in his defence, lawyers associated with the trial said.
A Special CBI court in Lucknow will pronounce judgment in the case on Wednesday, almost 28 years after karsevaks demolished the Mughal-era Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
K.K. Mishra, one of the defence lawyers, told The Hindu that they did not produce any witness in court as it was difficult to find one from among the group [that had gathered in Ayodhya].
“There was nobody to produce as witness from the defence side. We don't know from where all the people had come; they had come from all over. The mob knew the accused persons (BJP leaders and others), but the accused did not know them,” he said.
Mr. Mishra further said that even if they would have produced defence witnesses, they would have produced those present on the spot, but their identity was hard to pinpoint.
Senior lawyers pointed out that it was common for the defence side to not produce many witnesses in criminal cases.
The CBI judge has directed all 32 accused persons in the criminal conspiracy case to be present in court in person on Wednesday.
Senior BJP leader and former deputy prime minister L.K Advani, his colleagues Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and Kalyan Singh are among the accused.
However, there is still a doubt if all of them would be able to make it in person during the pandemic as some of them are either aged or unwell. While Mr. Advani is 92, Mr. Joshi is 86, Mr. Singh is 88 and Mahant Nritya Gopal Das is 82.
Five accused persons are unwell, said Mr. Mishra. While Ms. Bharti is COVID-19 positive, Mr. Singh has been admitted in a hospital; Mahant Das is receiving treatment in his ashram and another accused Satish Pradhan is wheel-chair bound after suffering from gangrene.
“Nothing is official as of now, but looking at the circumstances we can estimate that it won't be possible [for the unwell accused persons] to come,” said Mr. Mishra.
In total, 351 prosecution witnesses were examined by the court, said
M.M. Haq is the prosecution lawyer assisting the CBI. Over the course of the last three decades, however, many other witnesses have died, or were too old or frail to appear in court, while some even got discharged or could not be located, say lawyers.
Mr. Haq also said none of the accused persons produced any witnesses and it was only Mr. Kalyan Singh who submitted documentary evidence in his defence. “They all had the option, however,” said Mr. Haq.
He also pointed out that none of the prosecution witnesses turned hostile.
The Special CBI court in 2017 framed charges against Mr. Advani and several other accused on charges of criminal conspiracy for the demolition after the Supreme Court had used its extraordinary constitutional powers under Article 142 to restore the criminal conspiracy charges framed against them, overruling the Allahabad High Court judgment dropping the charges. The Allahabad HC had in 2010 upheld a special CBI court’s decision to drop conspiracy charges against Mr Advani and others in 2001.