30 September,2020 02:21 PM IST | | mid-day online correspondent
L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. Pic/AFP
A special CBI court in Lucknow on Wednesday acquitted all the accused, including BJP leaders L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, and Uma Bharti in the Babri Masjid demolition case. The judgment came 28 years after the demolition.
As many as 26 accused were present in the court, while Advani, Joshi, Uma Bharti, Nritya Gopal Das, Kalyan Singh and Satish Pradhan marked their presence via video conference.
After being acquitted, veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani said he welcomes the judgment by the Special Court. "The judgment vindicates my personal and BJP-s belief and commitment toward the Ram Janmabhoomi movement," Advani said.
Another BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi, who was acquitted in the case, hailed the decision as historic. He said, "This proves that no conspiracy was hatched for December 6 incident in Ayodhya. Our programme and rallies were not part of any conspiracy. We are happy, everyone should now be excited about Ram Mandir-s construction."
BJP leader and Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also welcome to verdict. "I welcome the verdict by Special CBI Court, Lucknow acquitting all 32 accused. It proves that justice triumphed however late it may be," Singh tweeted.
Welcoming the decision, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the court verdict proved the maxim -Satyamev Jayate- or truth prevails. He further stated that the verdict proved that various Hindu leaders and seers were "falsely implicated" by the then Congress government at the Centre, which was driven by its policy of political appeasement as he urged the party to "apologise for its deeds" after the court judgment.
Former National general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party Ram Madhav said -Truth triumphs-! Madhav tweeted that the CBI court-s acquittal in the Babri 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," Madhav said in his tweet.
While delivering the verdict, special CBI judge S.K. Yadav said that the demotion was not a planned incident but a spontaneous act. He said that Ashok Singhal and other Sangh Parivar leaders wanted to save the structure as Ram Lalla statues were inside.
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