E-Paper
State govt, CBI oppose appeal against acquittal of 32 accused in Babri demolition case
They do not have any right to file the present appeal against acquittal of the accused/respondents, says lawyers of the state government and the CBI
LUCKNOW The state government and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday objected to the criminal appeal filed by the appellants against the acquittal of 32 accused by the special CBI court in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
The case came up for hearing before the double judge bench of Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Saroj Yadav.
Government advocate Vimal Kumar Srivastava and CBI lawyer Shiv P Shukla raised an objection on the appeal and argued that the appellants were not victim of the case (Babri Masjid demolition).
“They do not have any right to file the present appeal against acquittal of the accused/respondents,” said lawyers of the state government and the CBI.
The court permitted two weeks’ time to both the lawyers to file objection and thereafter the appellants would have one week time to file reply. The court listed the matter for next hearing on September 5.
On September 30, 2020, Ayodhya resident, Haji Mahboob Ahmad, and another person, had filed criminal appeal in high court against acquittal of 32 people in the Babri Masjid demolition case by the special CBI court.
The special CBI court had acquitted all 32 accused, including former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, former union minister Murli Manohar Joshi, ex-Rajasthan governor 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 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.
