Babri case: Special court begins hearing, grants bail to 5 VHP men

Lucknow: Five VHP leaders accused in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case were on Saturday granted bail by a special court which started hearing the politically sensitive matter on a day-to-day basis.

The Supreme Court had on 19 April directed the special CBI court in Lucknow to begin

proceedings in the matter within a month and deliver the judgement within two years.

The CBI court had earlier issued summons to six accused, of whom five, including Ram Vilas Vedanti appeared today and sought bail.

CBI judge S K Yadav allowed their bail plea on two sureties of Rs 20,000 each and a personal bond of the same amount.

The court fixed the next hearing on May 22.

Besides Vedanti, those who appeared before the CBI court were VHP leaders Champat Rai, Baikunth Lal Sharma, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das and Dharmdas Maharaj.

The sixth accused, Satish Pradhan, did not appear.