New Delhi, June 30:
Amid mounting outrage over the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple, the Faizabad Bar Association in Ayodhya on Monday announced that none of its members would represent the eight arrested accused and said it would move court for a CBI probe.
Separately, a plea seeking a time-bound investigation by a CBI-led multi-disciplinary team came before the Supreme Court, but the vacation bench questioned the urgency and postponed the hearing until after the summer break, saying “heavens are not going to fall”.
The lawyers’ body in Ayodhya passed a resolution warning that any member going against the boycott would face a Rs 5 lakh penalty and demanded that Champat Rai, Anil Mishra and Gopal Rao — all associated with the management of the temple but not mentioned in the FIR — “must leave” Ayodhya. Association president Kalika Prasad said that it will also move the high court for a CBI probe.
The Bar had taken a similar boycott decision in 2005, following a terrorist attack at the then makeshift Ram temple, when lawyers decided not to defend the accused. Finally, a lawyer from Lucknow represented the accused in the case.