Babri Masjid demolition case: All accused including Advani, Joshi acquitted

Nearly thirty years after the Babri Masjid was razed by a mob in Uttar Pradesh, a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Lucknow on Wednesday acquitted all 32 accused, including BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, citing lack of evidence. Advani and Joshi welcomed the verdict. (Photo: PTI)

The court said there was no conclusive proof against the accused. “They have been acquitted for lack of evidence,” defence lawyer KK Mishra said. Twenty-six out of the 32 accused were present in the special court when the judgment was pronounced. (PTI)

While BJP veterans skipped the proceedings, Vinay Katiyar, Dharamdas, Vedanti, Lallu Singh, Champat Rai, and Pawan Pandey were among the accused present in the court today. While Advani, Joshi, and co-accused Nritya Gopal Das are above 80 years of age Bharti and another accused, Satish Pardhan, are in hospital.

Murli Manohar Joshi, along with LK Advani and Uma Bharti, are among the 32 who were acquitted today by the court. Joshi (86) was not present in the court today.

All 26 accused appeared before the court around 10.30 am. Outside the court, there was heavy police deployment and barricading. Media persons were not allowed to enter the court premises in the Qaiserbagh area of Lucknow.

Yogi Adityanath said: “The judgment has made it clear that then Congress Government had wrongly framed and defamed respected saints, BJP leaders, and office bearers of Vishwa Hindu Parishad out of its politically prejudice and over its politics of vote bank. The public of this country would not leave those responsible for this controversy”.

Reacting to the acquittal of senior BJP leaders by a special CBI court in the Babri Masjid demolition case, the Congress Wednesday said the verdict runs counter to the 2019 Supreme Court judgment as also the “Constitutional spirit”. The party asked the central and Uttar Pradesh governments to file an appeal against the decision of the special court.

Prominent Sunni cleric and All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) member Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali said everyone knows how the “Babri masjid was demolished in full public view” and the “law of the land was shredded to pieces”.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, said that the verdict proved that justice prevailed however late it may be. “I welcome the Babri Masjid demolition case verdict by a special court in Lucknow, which has acquitted LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti Kalyan Singh and 32 others. This has proved that justice has prevailed however late it maybe,” Singh tweeted.