Lucknow, Jul 17 (PTI) A special CBI court holding trial in the Babri mosque demolition case on Friday started legal proceedings to declare an accused a proclaimed offender for his failure to appear before it to depose under section 313 of the CrPC.

Accused Om Prakash Pandey is said to have renounced the world over 15 years ago and turned into a seer, the CBI had informed the court earlier.

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After an accused is declared proclaimed offender, his properties are liable to be attached by the court.

Special judge S K Yadav in his order said the court had issued non-bailable arrest warrants against accused Pandey twice earlier to secure his presence to for the deposition under section 313 of the CrPC but the NBW returned unexecuted.

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Accordingly, it is necessary to move against him as per the law, ASJ Yadav said.

The CBI earlier had told the court in a report that the family members of accused Pandey have claimed he became a seer over 15 years ago after renouncing the world and is his whereabouts were not known to them.

The agency had also told the court that it tried to search him in Allahabad, Haridwar, Ayodhya, Chamoli, Badrinath and other places but he was not traceable.

“The agency finds it difficult searching him because it has neither any photograph nor any identity card of the accused and if the court directs his family members to provide it the same, the search may be easier,” the CBI also requested in its report.

The court, however, rejected the request and proceeded to take steps to declare Pandey a proclaimed offender.

Meanwhile, the court also could not record the statement of another accused Sudhir Kakkad on Friday due to his failure to appear before it owing to the hospitalization of his ailing daughter.

His counsel sought exemption from his appearance on the day saying his daughter had to be hospitalised and hence he was not available on Friday and instead the court may accommodate him on July 20.

The court considered the medical emergency of the Kakkad's daughter and fixed July 20 for the recording of his statement.

The court has recorded statements of 26 accused out of a total of 32 accused so far.

It is yet to record statements of a few other accused including former deputy PM L K Advani and BJP leader M M Joshi who would depose through video conferencing on the dates to be fixed by the court at the appropriate time.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)