Babri Mosque demolition: BJP leaders visit LK Advani, say ‘justice has been done’

NEW DELHI: Top BJP leaders including Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, visited party veteran LK Advani shortly after the Special CBI court on Wednesday acquitted him and all other accused in more than two-decade-old ' Babri Masjid demolition case.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also welcomed the court's judgment in the 1992 Babri Mosque demolition case and said that ‘justice has won’.

Senior BJP leader Ram Madhav welcomed the CBI court verdict in the case, saying ‘victory has triumphed.’

Ram Madhav said the acquittal in RJB conspiracy case was long overdue and urged everyone to welcome the court’s judgement.

“Victory triumphs. CBI court’s acquittal in RJB conspiracy case was long overdue. A malicious case against some of the most respected leaders of our nation has fallen aside finally after 3 decades. Everyone should welcome d judgement,” Ram Madhav tweeted.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut welcomed the verdict on the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case and said the decision was awaited for the last 28 years. 

''Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the entire Sena party welcome the judgment as it was on expected lines. We should forget the incident now. If Babri wouldn't have been pulled down, we wouldn't have been able to see the Bhoomi Poojan of Ram Mandir. I congratulate all the leaders who were present there and who were involved in the protest,'' Raut said.

The reactions came shortly after the Special CBI court on Wednesday (September 30, 2020) acquitted all 32 accused in the case, including former deputy prime minister LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharti.

The accused were acquitted citing "lack of evidence'' against them for hatching the alleged conspiracy. The court also observed that the 1992 demolition was not "pre-planned."

Advani, Joshi and Uma Bharti were earlier accused of hatching the conspiracy that led to the demolition of the 15th-century mosque in December 1992. They attended the proceedings via video conferencing.

26 out of 32 accused were present in the court, including Sadhvi Ritambhara, Sakshi Maharaj, Vinay Katiyar and Champat Rai Bansal.
 
In the Babri demolition case, an FIR was registered against a total of 49 people. Of these 17 have died, the remaining 32 are still accused.

The seventeen accused in the case include Bal Thackeray, Ashok Singhal, Mahant Avaidyanath, Giriraj Kishore, and Vijayaraje Scindia who passed away during the trial.

During the trial, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) produced 351 witnesses and 600 documents as evidence before the CBI court.