The special CBI court in Rae Bareilly seized of the Babri masjid demolition case on Friday exempted Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani and seven other accused from personal appearance while fixing June 19 as the next date of hearing.

Special judge Justice Vinod Kumar Singh exempted Advani and seven others, including some top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, from personal appearance on the submission made by their counsel.

The seven are Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, Vishnu Hari Dalmia and Sadhvi Ritambra.

The copies of the supplementary charge sheets submitted by the CBI during the last hearing were made available to their counsel.

The court also provided copies of newspaper reports and other documents related to the case to advocates of the accused.

The copies of audio and video cassettes, however, could not be provided today and will be provided on June 19.

PTI