Babri demolition case: LK Advani, MM Joshi among 32 accused acquitted

Lucknow: A CBI court on Wednesday acquitted all 32 accused of demolishing the Babri Masjid, including veteran leaders LK Advani, Murli Manhoar Joshi, Uma Bharati, Kalyan Singh, citing lack of evidence to prove that the accused had encouraged the group of kar sevaks to demolish the mosque. The Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6 in Ayodhya in 1992. A series of riots, including the Mumbai riots, followed in which around 2,000 people across the country were killed.

Citing a Supreme Court observation, judge SK Yadav, who retired on Wednesday, said “presence of a person in a group does not prove that he is part of the illegal group but it needs to be proved that in fulfillment of normal objectives what role the person played along with the illegal group".

The court said on the basis of evidence it was clear that the accused was not aware that the crowd present during the kar seva would be deemed "illegal". He said those who demolished the mosque can only be called anti-socials. The 2,300-page verdict said that print and video footage which CBI submitted to prove the accused were involved in inciting kar sevaks to bring down the mosque was inadmissible as evidence. He said that video cassettes could be tampered and they were not even kept in sealed packets nor tested by forensic laboratories for authenticity. “The CBI should have refrained from producing such evidence in court because when the evidence was not even sealed, then it was inappropriate for submission,” the court observed.


“Up till 12 o’clock, everything in the campus was peaceful at the time Ashok Singhal was giving directions how kar seva would be done by getting handful of sand and water from the Saryu for the Ram Chabutara. It was at this time that one section turned violent and started pelting stones from behind the mosque... due to the stone pelting even other kar sevaks were injured,” the court observed. It said leaders seated on the stage, Ashok Singhal and Vijay Raje Scindia who were close to the Ram Chabutara had "no inkling that that a group of kar sevaks would turn violent and start attacking the structure.” It also stressed on the statement of one of the witnesses that Ashok Singhal, who was the international working president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and in charge of the Ramjanmbhoomi movement, was seen trying to calm down kar sevaks. It said the evidence also did not prove who made slogans like “ek dhakka do aur Babri Masjid tod do.”