In the 28-year-old case of Babri masjid demolition, the CBI has acquitted many senior BJP leaders
Bengaluru: The special CBI court acquitted as many as 32 people in the Babri masjid demolition case earlier today (September 30).
The court said there was a lack of evidence and gave a clean chit, adding that accused senior BJP leaders like LK Advani and Murali Manohar Joshi did not incite any mob to demolish the building.
The court also said that the act was not pre-planned.
Now that the case has been put to rest after 28 long years, many BJP leaders feel that the case was being used to harass the accused.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said, “Truth can be troubled but it cannot be defeated. Today, truth has won again. I hail the Indian judicial system."
In fact, UP CM Yogi Adityanath also said, “The Congress Party framed BJP leaders, saints and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders under false charges in the disputed Babri structure demolition case. The party should apologise to the country for this conspiracy.”
The judge SK Yadav, who had got several extensions for hearing the case and pronouncing the judgment, held that the act was spontaneous and not pre-planned, thereby granting exoneration to the accused.
The court also held that the Babri Masjid demolition was not a criminal conspiracy.
The hearings on Babri Masjid demolition involved evidence from 351 CBI witnesses and about 600 exhibits. As the hearings ended on September 1, the judge had started writing the judgment from the very next day to meet the deadline set by the Supreme Court.
In April 2017, the Supreme Court had asked a special court to complete the trial within two years with daily hearings. Later, it was given several extensions and when the judge asked for more time, the court had extended the deadline to September 30.
Earlier, all the 32 accuse were asked by the judge to be present physically in the court, but 6 were not present.
It was on December 6, 1992 that the Babri masjid was felled. As many as 2000 people had died in the following riots.
Last year, the Supreme Court had ruled the disputed land in Ayodhya in favour of Hindus, but had held that the demolition of the mosque was wrong.
The court had also tasked the Union government to form a trust in a matter of 3 months to oversee the construction of the temple. At the same time, the court had also granted 5 acres of land for the construction of a mosque.
It was on August 5 that Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the all-important bhumi pujan for the grand temple construction. The temple construction has begun and will be completed in 36-40 months’ time.
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