2 prosecution witnesses in Babri demolition trial want to furnish ‘additional evidence’

New Delhi: Two prosecution witnesses in the Babri Masjid demolition trial have moved the special CBI court, Lucknow, seeking permission to be represented by a private lawyer, at a time when the trial is in the final stages and the Supreme Court mandated deadline of September 30 for delivering the judgement is nearing.

Haji Mehboob and Syed Ikhlaq — represented by their lawyer MM Haq — have also said that they want to produce “additional evidence” on record which would prove that they were victimised during the demolition of the mosque in 1992. The court, however, turned down their plea earlier this week.

As per available information, the two have decided to file a revision plea against the court’s order and are also expected to move the Supreme Court if the revision plea is rejected by the CBI Court.


The two prosecution witnesses support the CBI’s case against the 32 accused, including high-profile BJP leaders LK Advani, MM Joshi, Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharti.

People with direct knowledge of the matter said if the CBI court allows their plea, then it may further delay conclusion of proceedings.

The witnesses have not said what “additional evidence” they wish to produce in the case.

In their testimonies recorded earlier, they had submitted that they had witnessed the killing of family members, destruction of property and cattle by a mob during the demolition.

In a related development, the accused have also gone silent on their plea to produce documents and witnesses in their defence. Earlier this month, the accused had moved an application seeking time to furnish documents in their defence.

However, except for former Uttar Pradesh CM Kalyan Singh, a co-accused in the case, the other accused have not produced any documents in their defence so far. Sources indicated they are now unlikely to produce any documents or witnesses.
The special court has given the accused time till August 31 to furnish written arguments.