Babri case: all accused acquitted

Special Desk

Nearly 28-years after the Babri Masjid incident in Ayodhya a special CBI court on Wednesday announced judgement. All the 32 accused were acquitted.

Ahead of the pronouncement of the verdict in the Babri mosque demolition case a multi-layered security was put in place in the vicinity of the Old High Court building. Barricades were placed near most of the cross sections in the vicinity of the court building, and movement of buses was diverted.

Vehicular movement on the roads adjoining to the court building was also minimised. As the accused persons started arriving, cops allowed them entry after verifying their details. Supporters were stopped at the barricades itself. Media was not allowed to enter the court building. Most of the shops in the vicinity of the courts remained closed in view of the pronouncement of the verdict.

The special court announced the 2000-page judgement judgement and acquitted all 32 including Lal Krishna Advani, Uma Bharti, Murli Manohar Joshi, Kalyan Singh, Vinay Katiyar citing lack of evidence against them.

CBI had filed a chargesheet against 49 people in the case, of whom 17 died during trial. The court recorded statements of 351 prosecution witnesses. The accused were also facing charges of having made assertions prejudicial to national integration and injuring or defiling a place of worship.