LUCKNOW — A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday acquitted all accused, including senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani, in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case, citing lack of evidence.

CBI judge SK Yadav, in his 2,000-page judgment, said there was no criminal conspiracy and that there was not enough evidence to prove that the demolition was pre-planned.

Besides Advani, other senior BJP leaders Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Rithambara were also among the accused.

“I wholeheartedly welcome the judgment by the special court in Babri Masjid demolition case. The judgment vindicates my personal and BJP's belief and commitment toward the Ram Janmabhoomi movement,” news agency ANI quoted Advani as saying.

“It's a historic decision by the court. This proves that no conspiracy was hatched for the Dec. 6 incident in Ayodhya. Our program and rallies were not part of any conspiracy. We are happy. Everyone should now be excited about Ram Mandir's construction,” Joshi said, according to ANI.

On September 16, the judge had directed all 32 surviving accused to remain present in the court for the judgment. However, six of them were exempted from being present in person — including Bharti and Kalyan Singh who are in hospital due to COVID-19 — and joined via video conference.

The 16th century Babri Masjid was demolished in December 1992 by "kar sevaks" who claimed that the mosque in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh was built on the site of an ancient Ram temple.

The central agency produced 351 witnesses and 600 documents as evidence before the court. Charges were framed against 48 people, but 17 have died during the course of trial. The trial under the serious criminal conspiracy charges commenced against them after having been dropped by the trial court in 2001.

The verdict was upheld by the Allahabad High Court in 2010, but the top court ordered restoration of the conspiracy charge against them in April 2017. The apex court had also ordered daily hearing in the high profile case and directed the special judge to conclude it in two years.

The charges against the accused were promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, having made assertions "prejudicial to national integration and injuring or defiling a place of worship", indulging in "deliberate and malicious" acts intended to outrage religious feelings, uttering statements leading to public mischief, rioting and unlawful assembly.

In a significant judgment in November 2019, the Supreme Court allotted the disputed site in Ayodhya for construction of a Ram temple, while calling the demolition of the mosque a violation of the rule of law. An alternative five-acre site was marked in Ayodhya for construction of a mosque. The bhoomi pujan for the temple was held on Aug. 5.

According to PTI, the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board senior member Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali on Wednesday said organizations representing the community would together decide whether they need to challenge or not the CBI court verdict in the Babri mosque demolition case.

Refusing to comment on their acquittal, Mahali said, "I don't have anything to say on the verdict. Everybody knows how the Babri mosque was sacrificed on Dec. 6, 1992 in Ayodhya and how all rules were flouted."

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said the Babri masjid demolition case lost its relevance after the supreme court settled the Ram Janmabhoomi title suit in 2019 even as he welcomed the special court's verdict acquitting all the 32 accused in the case. Speaking to reporters, Raut said the demolition episode needed to be forgotten now.

"The (demolition) case in the special court lost its relevance after the supreme court's verdict on Ram temple and bhoomi pujan of the temple performed by prime minister (in August)," Raut said. "This verdict was expected. I, on behalf of Shiv Sena and party president Uddhav Thackeray, welcome this decision of the court," he added.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Wednesday termed the Babri masjid demolition case verdict as the "victory of truth". Welcoming the verdict, VHP international president Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje told PTI that the demolition of the mosque on Dec. 6, 1992 was not "pre-planned".

"We welcome the court judgment. It is the victory of truth," Kokje said. "The court took nearly 28 years to give its judgment, but it was clear from the day one that it (demolition) was not a pre-planned incident. 'Karsevaks' were not called to Ayodhya for demolishing the mosque. Its razing was a sudden incident," he said.

The RSS on Wednesday welcomed the special CBI court's verdict acquitting all accused in the Babri masjid demolition case and called for harmony in society to face challenges before the country. "Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh welcomes the special CBI court's decision to acquit all the accused in the demolition of the controversial structure.

"After this decision, all sections of the society should come together in unity and harmony and work successfully to face the challenges before the country, and work towards the progress of this country," RSS general secretary Suresh 'Bhaiyyaji' Joshi tweeted.

The AIMPLB Secretary Zafaryab Jilani said that the judgment pronounced by the special CBI was “wrong”.

Reacting to the verdict, Asaduddin Owaisi said that the decision by the CBI court is a 'black day' for the Indian judiciary as the Supreme Court already had said in the civil property dispute of the site as 'an egregious violation of rule of law' and 'calculated act of destroying a public place of worship' — Agencies