Nearly 28 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 has acquitted all the 32 accused in the case, including BJP veterans LK Advani and MM Joshi. The court said there was no "conclusive proof" against the accused.
“They have been acquitted for lack of evidence,” defence lawyer KK Mishra said.
As CBI Judge SK Yadav began reading the 2,000-page order on Wednesday, the court observed that evidence against the accused was not strong enough and the Babri Mosque demolition incident "was not pre-planned". The court observed that the people who demolished the mosque were “anti-national elements”. The accused people were, in fact, trying to control the crowds, the judgement added, reported News18.
The 32 accused persons include former deputy prime minister Advani, former Union ministers Joshi and Uma Bharti, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, during whose tenure the structure was pulled down, besides Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Rithambara. Champat Rai, the general secretary of the trust in charge of constructing the temple, is also among the accused.
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.
Twenty-six out of the 32 accused were present in the special court when the judgment was pronounced. Advani (92), Joshi (86), Bharti (61), Singh (88), Nritya Gopal Das, and Satish Pradhan were not present in court and attended proceedings via video conferencing on Wednesday.
On 16 September, CBI judge SK Yadav had directed all 32 surviving accused to remain present in the court for the judgment. However, six of them were exempted from being present in person – including Bharti and Kalyan Singh who are in hospital due to COVID-19 – had joined the hearing on Wednesday via video conference.
In one of the first reactions to the Babri conspiracy case verdict, Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi tweeted "Jai Shri Ram". "All the accused, including Advaniji, acquitted. There was no pre-planned conspiracy to demolish the Babri structure," he added.
जय श्री राम ।Advaniji सहित सभी अभियुक्त दोष मुक्त।बाबरी ढाँचा गिराने में कोई पूर्व नियोजित षड्यंत्र नहीं था।#BabriVerdict
— Sushil Kumar Modi (@SushilModi) September 30, 2020
“I was witness to the entire incident of 6 December,” the Bihar minister further added. “It was all spontaneous no conspiracy. I was conducting the meeting from dais I was surprised when some Kar Sewaks climbed the Babri structure. Advani ji was unhappy. Satyameva Jayate!”
Reacting to the verdict, the two accused BJP leaders, LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi also reacted to the judgement, welcoming it. Senior BJP leader Advani said he welcomes the significant verdict. He adds that the judgement “vindicates my personal and BJP’s belief towards the Ram Janmabhoomi movement”, as per NDTV reports.
"It's a 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," BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi said after the verdict, news agency ANI reported.
Defence Minister and BJP leader Rajnath Singh welcomed the CBI court’s judgment, saying "It proves that justice triumphed however late it may be."
लखनऊ की विशेष अदालत द्वारा बाबरी मस्जिद विध्वंस केस में श्री लालकृष्ण आडवाणी, श्री कल्याण सिंह, डा. मुरली मनोहर जोशी, उमाजी समेत ३२ लोगों के किसी भी षड्यंत्र में शामिल न होने के निर्णय का मैं स्वागत करता हूँ। इस निर्णय से यह साबित हुआ है कि देर से ही सही मगर न्याय की जीत हुई है।
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) September 30, 2020
Welcoming the CBI court's verdict in Babri Masjid demolition case, BJP leader Ram Madhav tweeted saying: "Truth triumphs". "CBI court’s acquittal in Babri conspiracy case was long overdue. A malicious case against some of the most respected leaders of our nation has fallen aside finally after 3 decades," said Madhav.
The mosque was pulled down on 6 December, 1992, by mobs of kar sevaks who maintained that it was built during the time of the first Mughal ruler at the spot which marked the birthplace of Ram temple.
In a landmark judgment last year, the Supreme Court allotted the disputed site in Ayodhya for the construction of a Ram temple, while calling the demolition of the mosque a violation of the rule of law.
The top court had also said that the demolition of Babri Masjid was illegal and directed the government to acquire an alternative plot of land to build a mosque.
The earlier deadline set by the Supreme Court for the special CBI court to pronounce verdict was August-end. It was extended by a month on 22 August.
from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/34qr6b1
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