Babri demolition verdict: Two witnesses challenge acquittal of all 32 accused by CBI court

In a major development, two CBI witnesses from the Babri Masjid demolition case will move the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday, challenging the Special CBI court's verdict acquitting all 32 accused in the Babri mosque demolition case. The two witnesses - Haji Mahboob, 70, and Hafiz Sayyad Akhlaq, 80 - who have been deposed during the trial at the Lucknow court - reportedly lived in close proximity to the Babri mosque when it was demolished by a mob of karsevaks on December 6, 1992. The Special court acquitted all 32 accused, including BJP veterans LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, and Uma Bharti on 30 September. This plea comes on the last day when the deadline for the CBI to challenge the verdict expires.

Babri Demolition Case: All accused including Advani, Joshi & Bharti acquitted, 28 years on

Babri Verdict: All 32 accused acquitted

Pronouncing the 2000-page verdict,  Special CBI judge Surendra Kumar Yadav observed that demolition was not "pre-planned" and happened in the "spur of the moment". Out of the 32 accused, 26 were present in the court and others attended the hearing via video conferencing, including Advani. While in 2010, the Allahabad High Court judgment upheld a special CBI court’s decision in 2001 to drop conspiracy charges against Advani and others, it was over-ruled by the SC in 2017 - to restore the criminal conspiracy charges framed against several BJP veterans  - L.K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and three others  - former MP Vinay Katiyar and VHP leaders Vishnu Hari Dalmia and Sadhvi Ritambhara. 

The charges against the leaders included - IPC sections 395, 397, 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class), 297 and 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony).  The Supreme Court has already given a unanimous verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi- Babri Masjid land dispute on November 9, 2019 - awarding the disputed land to the Hindus and a 5-acre land in replacement to the Muslims. 

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Babri Masjid Demolition case

On December 6, 1992 a rally had been allegedly organised in the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi area where the 16th century Babri Masjid stood - which attracted 1,50,000 kar sevaks. The rally - allegedly organised by the BJP & VHP - turned violent when kar sevaks attacked security personnel and demolished the mosque. The demolition caused communal riots which caused deaths of thousands.

The 1992 Babri Demolition case had been dragging for nearly three decades, with the Supreme Court directing the CBI Court in Lucknow to conduct the proceedings setting August 31, 2020, as the deadline for the verdict in the case. In May 2017, the special CBI court charged BJP leaders L.K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Union Minister Uma Bharti and others with criminal conspiracy in the Babri Masjid demolition case, as per reports. The delay in the examination of the eye-witnesses had reportedly been due to delay in framing charges against senior BJP leader Kalyan Singh - who enjoyed immunity as the Governor of Rajasthan. Singh had been the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, when a mob demolished the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

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