A special CBI court last week acquitted all 32 accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case, giving a major relief to saffron stalwarts like former deputy PM L K Advani, former UP CM Kalyan Singh, former Union minister M M Joshi, former MP CM Uma Bharti, Bajrang Dal founder Vinay Katiyar and three BJP MPs - Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Lallu Singh and Sakshi Maharaj.
In his order running into 2,300 pages, the judge, Surendra Kumar Yadav, said the demolition was not pre-planned and was the handiwork of "unruly elements (arajak tattva)" among the kar sevaks. Also, the CBI couldn't prove that the accused Sangh Parivar functionaries were behind any conspiracy to demolish the 16th-century structure on December 6, 1992.
He said the CBI could not produce any conclusive evidence against any accused. "Even VHP leader late Ashok Singhal was trying to stop kar sevaks from demolishing the disputed structure because the idol of Lord Ram was also inside the structure," the judge wrote in the verdict delivered on the last day of his tenure.
The court also accepted the defence's plea that Ram Lalla's idols were not removed from the mandir-masjid complex and it was left to the priest, Satyendra Das, to take those out at the last moment, showing that the accused had no plans to demolish the structure. Judge Yadav also agreed with the defence that the structure was demolished by miscreants who defied the directive by BJP and VHP leaders assembled at Ram Katha Kunj to restrict themselves to symbolic kar seva in the vicinity of the now-demolished mosque. Significantly, the judge took into account intelligence inputs from both local and central agencies about the possible presence of subversives, some backed by Pakistani agencies and others from J&K, in Ayodhya.
The acquittal comes in the wake of the Supreme Court verdict allotting the disputed Ayodhya site to Hindus for the construction of Ram Mandir, generating unease among sections of Muslims. The second victory for the Hindutva side can add to the unease. Prominent Sunni cleric and AIMPLB member Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali said everyone knows how the "Babri Masjid was demolished in full public view" and the "law of the land was shredded to pieces".
BJP, VHP and others were, however, jubilant over what they saw as the second consecutive judicial imprimatur over their stand on Ayodhya amid the absence of any indication that the CBI could move the high court. When asked, CBI counsel Lalit Singh said a copy of the judgment would be sent to the agency headquarters in Delhi which would take a further decision. BJP has maintained that the destruction of the mosque was not premeditated. VHP and others have ascribed the events on the fateful day 28 years ago to the spontaneous outburst of pent-up feelings of Hindus. Just as the accused were acquitted, some of them in the court loudly chanted "Jai Shri Ram" in the presence of the judge.
However, the Shiv Sena has been a defiant exception and even claimed responsibility for the demolition. Not surprisingly, unlike Congress, its coalition partner in Maharashtra, it welcomed the outcome.
The conspiracy charge against Advani had been dropped by the Allahabad high court in 2001, but was restored by the Supreme Court in 2017. In the much-awaited hearing, the judge occupied his chair in the courtroom at 12.10 pm and within five minutes read out the operative part of the judgment, pronouncing acquittal of all the accused. The judge had superannuated on September 30, 2019 but the Supreme Court had extended his service period till delivery of the judgment.
