Babri Majid demolition case: CBI seeks more time from special court to show Kalyan Singh no longer holds Rajasthan governor's post

Lucknow: The CBI on Wednesday sought more time from a special court, conducting the trial of those accused in the alleged conspiracy of Babri Masjid demolition, for furnishing documents to put on record that Kalyan Singh no longer holds the constitutional post of governor. The central probe agency had on Monday moved the special CBI court here for summoning Singh to face trial in the case after his term as Rajasthan governor ended. [caption id=“attachment_2333000” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Kalyan Singh. Image courtesy: Jan Kranti Party website[/caption] Singh, who was Uttar Pradesh chief minister when the mosque in Ayodhya was demolished, enjoyed protection from trial while he held a constitutional post as governor. After completing his five-year term as governor, the 87-year-old Singh rejoined the BJP at the party office in Lucknow on Monday. The court had taken up the CBI application on Monday and for the record, inquired from the agency if Singh no longer holds the constitutional post of governor. Responding to the court’s query on Wednesday, the CBI sought more time to furnish the documents. The court has fixed 16 September as the next date of hearing on the CBI plea. The special court is conducting the trial of those accused in the alleged conspiracy including senior BJP leaders L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, and Uma Bharti. Moving the application on Monday, the CBI had pleaded that Kalyan Singh was charge-sheeted in 1993. It pleaded that the Supreme Court in its order of 19 April 2017 had said Singh could not be brought to trial because of the constitutional immunity granted to governors under Article 361 of the Constitution. The SC had, however, allowed the CBI to move for summoning the former chief minister as an accused as soon as he ceased to be a governor. All the accused are on bail in the case which is being heard on a day-to-day basis, going by the apex court’s directions. The SC had in 2017 ordered the revival of the demolition case. This is separate from the case to decide the ownership of the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site.