Special CBI court acquits all 32 accused in Babri Mosque demolition case, cites lack of evidence

LUCKNOW: Nearly twenty-eight years after the Babri Masjid was demolished, the Special CBI court on Wednesday (September 30, 2020) acquitted all 32 accused in the case, including former deputy prime minister LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharti.

The accused were acquitted citing "lack of evidence'' against them for hatching the alleged conspiracy. The court also observed that the 1992 demolition was not "pre-planned."

Advani, Joshi and Uma Bharti were earlier accused of hatching the conspiracy that led to the demolition of the 15th-century mosque in December 1992. They attended the proceedings via video conferencing.

26 out of 32 accused were present in the court, including Sadhvi Ritambhara, Sakshi Maharaj, Vinay Katiyar and Champat Rai Bansal.

In the Babri Mosque demolition case, an FIR was registered against a total of 49 people. Of these 17 have died, the remaining 32 are still accused.

The seventeen accused in the case include Bal Thackeray, Ashok Singhal, Mahant Avaidyanath, Giriraj Kishore, and Vijayaraje Scindia who passed away during the trial.

During the trial, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) produced 351 witnesses and 600 documents as evidence before the CBI court. 

The UP police earlier issued a high alert across the state in view of the verdict, in the Babri mosque demolition case. Vehicular movement on the roads adjoining the court was minimsed. Wooden barricades were erected near most of the cross-sections in the vicinity of the court building, and movement of buses from the Kaisarbagh bus stand diverted.

Supporters were stopped at the barricades itself. Media persons were not allowed to enter the court building. Most of the shops in the vicinity of the courts remained closed in view of the pronouncement of the verdict. Lucknow's Commissioner of Police Sujeet Pandey also took stock of security arrangements.