On the 30th of September, the Special Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) Judge Surendra Kumar Yadav, delivered his verdict in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
Happened in 1992, Babri Masjid Demolition Case’s verdict came 28 years later.
The 16th century structure was razed by a mob in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya town, claiming the land to be the janmabhoomi(birth place) of Lord Rama.
The key accused in the Babri Masjid demolition include the former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, the former Union ministers Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh.
During the hearing, senior leaders like L.K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were not present in the Lucknow court but marked their presence via video conference. In the wake of the Novel Coronavirus ot COVID-19 and due to their age they marked their presence through video conferencing.
All the 32 accused in the cases are under several sections of the IPC, including criminal conspiracy, rioting , promoting enmity between different groups and unlawful assembly.
During the trial, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) produced 351 witnesses and 600 documents as evidence before the Lucknow Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) court.
The CBI court had initially framed charges against 49 accused, of which 17 are dead.
The CBI Court dismissed the petition and announced the verdict in less than 10 minutes.
The court acquitted all the 32 accused including Ram Vilas Vedanti, Uma Bharti, L.K. Advani and M. Manohar Joshi.
Mahant Ram Vilas Vedanti after the Babri verdict said,“It’s good. Justice has been done. The court agreed that we did no wrong.”
Shiv Sena leader Satish Pradhan, one of the 32 accused in the Babri demolition case, expressed happiness over the verdict. He said, “I had no connection with the demolition as I was not even present in the spot. My stance has been vindicated and I finally got justice.”
Iqbal Ansari, one of the petitioners in the Ram Janambhoomi case welcomed the verdict and said, “It’s good that this is now over. Let’s all live in peace. Let there be no fresh trouble of this nature. Hindu and Muslim have always lived in peace in Ayodhya.”
During the hearing, the CBI Court dismissed all the evidence presented by the CBI.
Special CBI Judge Surendra Kumar Yadav did not admit the videos produced by the Central Bureau of Investigation, holding that the recording had been tampered with.
The judge also did not admit the photographs submitted by the CBI since it could not produce the original negatives. The CBI Court judge also agreed with the defence that the CBI did not follow provisions of the Evidence Act.
Manish Tripathi, the Defence lawyer for the accused,“The court said the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad did not have a role in the demolition. It was carried out by mischievous elements.”
With this, the long matter of Babri Masjid demolition case ends.
On the 6th of December 1992, the 16th century old Babri Masjid was demolished.
The Babri Masjid Demolition case verdict came after the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute was resolved in 2019.
Stay tuned for further updates.
