A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court pronounced judgement in the 28-year-old Babri Masjid (mosque) demolition case on Wednesday. All the 32 key accused, which included veteran BJP leaders Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti have been acquitted.
‘Evidence against them is not solid… audio and video recordings placed in court are not verifiable’, said Special CBI Judge Surendra Kumar Yadav, according to TV reports.
The judge delivered the verdict in the case related to the conspiracy, which led to the demolition of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
Veteran Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti were among the 32 accused, who were asked to be present during the hearing. Former Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh was also one of the key accused.
LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharti, Satish Pradhan and Mahant Nritya Gopal Das attended the proceedings via video-conferencing.
Among those present at the special CBI court in Lukhnow were Saadhvi Ritambhara, Champat Rai, Vinay Katiyar and Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Opoyi takes you through the timeline of the case:
1983
A nationwide movement for the construction of the temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya started by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
November, 1989
VHP organises Shilanyas ceremony in Ayodhya and places the first stone of the planned Ram temple.
September, 1990
BJP leader LK Advani starts a yatra from Gujarat’s Somnath to Ayodhya demanding the construction of the Ram Temple. He is arrested in Bihar during the yatra.
November, 1990
Uttar Pradesh Police clashes with Karsevaks , uses force to control the crowd. Scores of karsevaks are killed.
June, 1991
BJP leader Kalyan Singh becomes Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
December 6, 1992
Thousands of Kar sevaks assemble at Babri masjid, soon the situation goes out of control and the masjid is demolished. Riots follow in which more than 2,000 people die.
October 5, 1993
Consolidated chargesheet filed by CBI. A few days later, the Uttar Pradesh government issues a notification stating that the two FIRs would be tried together.
October 24, 1994
The Supreme Court says that mosque was not integral to Islam in the historic Ismail Faruqui case.
2002
The Allahabad High Court begins hearing on determining who owns the disputed site of worship.
2003
The CBI files another chargesheet against 8 accused in one of the FIRs. LK Advani discharged owing to a lack of evidence.
June 30, 2009
The Liberhan Commission submitted its report to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
November 24, 2009
Liberhan Report tabled in Parliament by Home Minister P. Chidambaram.
September 30, 2010
The Allahabad High Court ruled three-way division of disputed area between Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
March 20, 2012
The CBI files an affidavit again seeking a common trial for all the cases.
2015
The apex court issues notices to senior BJP leaders, including LK Advani, Uma Bharati, Murli Manohar Joshi and Kalyan Singh, seeking a response to CBI’s plea that criminal conspiracy charges not be dropped.
April 19, 2017
The SC says BJP’s Advani, Joshi and Uma Bharti would be prosecuted for serious offence of criminal conspiracy in the case and orders day-to-day trial to be concluded in two years, that is April 19, 2019.
July 2019
Deadline extended by nine months
November 2019
The apex court paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple by a Trust at the disputed site. It directed the Centre to allot an alternative 5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a prominent place in Ayodhya.
July 24, 2020
BJP veteran L K Advani records his statement before the court through video conferencing, denying any involvement in the conspiracy to demolish the mosque.
August 22, 2020
SC extends the deadline for completion of trial by a month.
September 1, 2020
The final arguments by the defence and the prosecution were heard.
September 30, 2020
A special CBI court acquitted all the 32 key accused in the Babri Masjid demolition. The case was regarding the conspiracy, which led to the demolition of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
Among those acquitted were veteran BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti.
