Babri Masjid Demolition Case: All 32 accused including Advani, Joshi acquitted; CBI court says demolition not 'pre-planned'

New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: A CBI court on Wednesday acquitted all the 32 accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case, observing that the demolition of the structure was "not pre-planned." Reading out the verdict in the 28-year-old case, Judge SK Yadav said that there was no conclusive proof against the accused. 

The special court also observed that Ashok Singhal and other Sangh Parivar leaders wanted to save the structure as Ram Lalla statues were inside.

Advocate K K Mishra, representing several BJP leaders in the case, said the court found that the video of the demolition was fabricated and the investigative team did not produce negatives of the picture.

Advani welcomed the verdict, saying it vindicated his personal and BJP's belief towards the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.   

Veteran BJP leader Murali Manohar Joshi said: "Its historic decision by the court. This proves that no conspiracy was hatched for December 6 incident in Ayodhya. Our program and rallies were not part of any conspiracy. We are happy, everyone should now be excited about Ram Mandir's construction."

The CBI, which went into the case, produced 351 witnesses and 600 documents as evidence before the court. Charges were framed against 48 people, but 16 had died during the course of the trial.

The special court had on September 16 directed all the 32 surviving accused to remain present in the court on the day of judgment. While 26 of them were present in the court, deputy prime minister L K Advani, former Union ministers Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, along with Dr Satish Pradhan and Mahant Nritya Gopal Das attended the proceedings via video conferencing.

Advani and Joshi were exempted from attending the court proceedings on health grounds while Bharti had contracted coronavirus and Kalyan Singh is recuperating from it.

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.

Earlier in May, the top court had extended by three months the time for completion of trial in the case and said that judgement should be delivered by August 31. On July 19 last year, the top court had asked the special judge to deliver the verdict within nine months, which was to end this April.

The case relates to the razing of the disputed structure in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, by ‘kar sevaks’ who claimed that an ancient Ram temple stood at the same site. Following the demolition, two FIRs were filed - onw against 'lakhs of kar sevaks' and the second against 49 functionaries of the Sangh Parivar for the alleged conspiracy.