All accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case have been acquitted by the Special CBI court in Lucknow. Reading out the verdict in the 28-year-old case, Judge SK Yadav said that the evidence in the case ‘was not strong.’
The judgment in the Babri Masjid demolition case is 2,300 pages long. While acquitting all the accused, the CBI court has said the “Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) had no role to play directly or indirectly” in the demolition. The court observed that “unknown people threw stones from the back”.
In the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case in BJP veterans LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were among the accused. CBI judge SK Yadav had on September 16 directed all the 32 surviving accused to remain present in the court on the day of the judgment. The accused included former deputy prime minister Advani, former Union ministers Joshi and Uma Bharti, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, besides Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Rithambara.
In August, the Supreme Court had extended by a month the time for completion of trial in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case involving BJP veterans L K Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharti and said that judgement should be delivered by September 30.
Babri Masjid, the Mughal era mosque built by emperor Babar, was razed by a mob of kar sevaks on December 6, 1992. The kar sevaks demolished the heritage monument saying it was constructed on the birthplace of Lord Ram or the Ram Janmabhoomi.
