BJP leader and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh is set to appear before a CBI court in Lucknow on Friday in connection to the case related to Babri Masjid demolition.
A special CBI court had issued summons to Kalyan Singh earlier this month, directing him to appear before it. e
The 87-year-old leader, who was the Uttar Pradesh chief minister when the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992, enjoyed protection from trial while he held a constitutional post as governor of Rajasthan. After serving a full five-year term as governor, he rejoined the BJP on September 9.
The CBI had filed an application in the CBI court seeking to summon Kalyan Singh to face trial for allegedly conspiring to demolish the Babri mosque. The CBI had pleaded that Singh was chargesheeted in 1993. It further pleaded that the Supreme Court had in April 2017 said Singh could not be brought in as an accused to face trial due to the constitutional immunity granted to governors under Article 361 of the Constitution. The top court had, however, allowed the CBI to move for summoning of Singh as an accused as soon as he ceased to be the governor.
All the accused are on bail in the case, the trial of which is being conducted on a day-to-day basis, on the directions of the apex court.
-with inputs from PTI