Special CBI judge Surendra Kumar Yadav has delivered his verdict in the Babri Masjid demolition case on Wednesday, 28 years after the 16th-century structure was razed by a mob in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya town.
The key accused include former deputy prime minister LK Advani, former Union ministers MM Joshi and Uma Bharti and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh. Most of the senior leaders among the 32 accused such as LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were not present in the Lucknow court but marked their presence via video conference.
The 32 accused face charges under several sections of the IPC, including criminal conspiracy, rioting, promoting enmity between different groups and unlawful assembly. During the trial, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) produced 351 witnesses and 600 documents as evidence before the CBI court. The court had initially framed charges against 49 accused; 17 accused have died.
“The CBI court has acquitted all 32 accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case. This ends the long-pending dispute related with the December 6, 1992 incident, “ said lawyer KK Mishra who is representing 25 out of 32 accused in the case.
Former deputy prime minister LK Advani, former ministers Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti and former chief minister Kalyan Singh along with 28 other accused of conspiring to demolish the Babri Masjid in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya town 28 years ago have been acquitted by CBI special judge Surendra Kumar Yadav. In a hearing that lasted just about 10 minutes, the judge ruled the CBI had not been able to establish charges against the accused.
The UP police have issued a high alert across the state in view of the verdict, in the Babri mosque demolition case, to be delivered by the special CBI court (Ayodhya case) in Lucknow on Wednesday, said senior police officials.
The court will pronounce verdict in the Babri mosque demolition case, nearly 3 decades after the 16th-century structure was demolished in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
While top accused including LK Advani, MM Joshi, Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharti are unlikely to attend as Kalyan and Uma Bharti are recovering from Covid-19, various other accused are expected to be present.
Source: Republic World
