Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Lal Krishna Advani on Friday recorded his statement in the Babri mosque demolition case. The veteran leader recorded the case before the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Lucknow through video-conferencing.

On Thursday, the court recorded the statement of another BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi in the case. Joshi had told the special CBI court that he was innocent and implicated in the case by the then Congress government at the Centre.

The 86-year-old leader had also called the prosecution witnesses in the case as “liars”.

“The entire investigation was conducted under the political influence and he was charged on the basis of false and fabricated evidence,” Joshi told the court.

The court recorded Joshi’s statement in the presence of his counsel Vimal Kumar Srivastava, K K Mishra and Abhishek Ranjan.

The counsel for prosecution agency CBI, Lalit Singh, R K Yadav and P Chakravarti too were present in the court during its proceeding.

The court is recording the statements of as many as 32 accused in the case after examination of the prosecution witnesses.

It is conducting a day-to-day hearing in the case to complete its trial by August 31 as directed by the Supreme Court. BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti had appeared in person earlier this month before the court to make her deposition in the case. In her testimony, she too had accused the then Congress government at the Centre of implicating her in the case due to political vendetta.

The Babri mosque in Ayodhya was brought down on December 6, 1992 by kar sevaks who believed the structure was built on the birth place of Hindu God Ram.

The decades-old dispute over the site was settled last year when the Supreme Court ordered that the site be given to a trust to build a temple, and that alternative land be provided in Ayodhya for a mosque. Advani, Joshi, and others have been accused of being involved in the conspiracy to demolish the mosque.

The foundation-stone laying ceremony of the temple is expected to be held in the first week of August with the Prime Minister in attendance. Advani, too, is expected to attend the event.