Babri Masjid Demolition Case: LK Advani And 31 Others Acquitted

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh acquitted all accused including Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Rithambara in the 1992 Babri Masjid Demolition case and said that it was not a criminal conspiracy.

CBI judge SK Yadav said in his judgement that there was not enough evidence to prove that the demolition was pre-planned. 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 corona 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.

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 August 5.