A special court in India today acquitted all the 32 accused, including Bharatiya Janata Party veterans Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, in the 28-year-old case relating to the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, saying "there is no conclusive proof" against them.
Special Judge SK Yadav pronounced the verdict in his court in Lucknow, capital city of India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh.
The judge said there was no conclusive evidence against the accused and the demolition of the 16th century mosque was "not pre-planned."
Advani, Joshi and Bharti were among the 32 surviving accused in the case who faced the charges of criminal conspiracy and promoting enmity.
The Babri mosque stood in Ayodhya and its razing on December 6, 1992 climaxed pan-India rath yatras by Advani in what came to be known as the Ram temple movement that changed India's politics and catapulted BJP to the centre stage.
Besides Advani, Joshi and Bharti, the accused in the case included senior BJP leader Kalyan Singh who was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh when the mosque was demolished. But none of the four high-profile accused were present in court today when the ruling was delivered.
Advani, Joshi and Uma Bharti were allegedly on a dais near the mosque at the time of the demolition. The investigating agencies alleged they had instigated the crowd with their speeches.
The Kalyan Singh government in Uttar Pradesh was dismissed by the federal Indian government led by Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao as riots broke out across India in which around 3,000 people died.
A total of 48 people were accused in the case but 16 of them died during the trial.
Advani, 92, and Joshi, 86, are exempted from attending the court on health grounds. Uma Bharti has contracted coronavirus and Kalyan Singh is recuperating from the virus.
In a landmark verdict in November last year, India's Supreme Court ordered the construction of a temple at the site. The foundation-laying ceremony took place earlier this year in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present.
Advani had recorded his statement in the case before the special CBI court through video conference on July 24 while Joshi did so a day before. Both have denied all charges against them.
In April 2017, the Supreme Court had asked the special court in Lucknow to complete the trial within two years with daily hearings. Later, it was given several extensions and when special judge SK Yadav asked for more time, the court extended the deadline to September 30.
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