Babri demolition: CBI files objection in Allahabad HC against plea challenging acquittal of all accused

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday submitted objections to the maintainability of criminal appeal filed in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court challenging acquittal of all 32 accused by the Special CBI court in the Babri Masjid demolition case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday submitted objections to the maintainability of criminal appeal filed in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court challenging acquittal of all 32 accused by the Special CBI court in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

The special CBI court had acquitted all 32 accused in the Babri demolition case on September 30, 2020. (Ht file)

A division bench of Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Renu Agarwal fixed September 26 as the next date for hearing of the appeal by Ayodhya residents Haji Mahboob and Syed Akhlaq. CBI lawyer Shiv P Shukla and government advocate Vimal Kumar Srivastava raised objections to the maintainability of the appeal.

They contended that the appellants were not the victims in the case and hence did not have the right to file the present appeal against the acquittal of the accused.

The special CBI court on September 30, 2020 had acquitted all 32 accused, including former deputy PM LK Advani, former union minister Murli Manohar Joshi, ex-Rajasthan governor the late Kalyan Singh and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti, in the Babri Masjid demolition case due to lack of conclusive evidence.

Ruling out the criminal conspiracy theory, the court had held that the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, was a spontaneous act and not pre-planned. The court also pointed out that none of the locals of Ayodhya had testified against any of the accused to prove that they incited the mob.