A special court in Lucknow will deliver the much-awaited judgment on Wednesday in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case in which BJP veterans L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are among the accused.
CBI judge S.K. Yadav had on September 16 directed all the 32 surviving accused to remain present in the court on the day of the judgment. However, L.K. Advani, M.M. Joshi, Uma Bharti and Kalyan Singh are unlikely to be present in the trial court.
The case relates to the razing of the disputed structure in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
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Security stepped up in vicinity of Lucknow court
A multi-layered security apparatus was put in place in the vicinity of the Old High Court building.
Wooden barricades were erected near most of the cross sections in the vicinity of the court building, and movement of buses from the Kaisarbagh bus stand diverted.
Vehicular movement on the roads adjoining to the court building was also minimised.
Mediapersons were not allowed to enter the court building. Most of the shops in the vicinity of the courts remained closed in view of the pronouncement of the verdict.
The arguments so far
The accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case did not produce any witness from their side while only one of them, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, submitted documentary evidence in his defence, lawyers associated with the trial said.
While it is common for the defence side to not produce many witnesses in criminal cases, the court has examined 351 witnesses from the prosecution side in all, over the course of three decades.
Mr. Advani and other top BJP-VHP leaders are accused of being present on the dais some distance away from the Babri Masjid, and exhorting the kar sevaks to demolish the structure.
Mr. Joshi and Mr. Advani had earlier recorded their statements in the case via video conferencing. They had denied the charges against them while testifying.
Pleading innocence, Mr. Kalyan Singh had accused the Congress government at the Centre of implicating him in the case on baseless allegations due to political vendetta. He was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh when the demolition happened. P.V. Narasimha Rao headed a minority Congress government in the Centre then.
Ms. Bharti had expressed pride that she was a part of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
CBI Judge S K Yadav arrives in court.
Accused Sadhvi Rithambhara, Vinay Katiyar, Champat Rai and Pawan Pandey also arrive in court. As many as 27 accused are present in the court.
BJP leaders Advani, Joshi, Bharti unlikely to be present in court
Looking back: V.H. Dalmia, M.M. Joshi, L.K. Advani and Uma Bharti, near Ayodhya on Dec. 10, 1992. Shankar Chakravarty The Hindu
BJP veterans L.K. Advani, M.M. Joshi, Uma Bharti and Kalyan Singh, all accused in the Babri mosque demolition case, are unlikely to be present in the trial court on Wednesday at the time of delivery of verdict in the matter.
Their advocate K.K. Mishra also said that Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas chief, Nritya Gopal Das, too is unlikely to be present in the CBI special court here.
Of the other accused Vinay Katiyar, Dharamdas, Vedanti, Lallu Singh, Champat Rai and Pawan Pandey have reached Lucknow ahead of the pronouncement of the verdict.
Two main crimes
A total of 49 FIRs had been filed in the case but the case deals with two main crimes. The first crime (no. 197 of 1992) was alleged against lakhs of kar sevaks on charges of dacoity, robbery, causing of hurt, injuring and defiling places of public worship, promoting enmity between two groups on grounds of religion and so on.
The second FIR (no. 198) was lodged against eight persons: Mr. Advani, Ms. Bharti, Mr. Katiyar, Mr. Joshi, Ms. Ritambara, Ashok Singhal (VHP leader), Giriraj Kishore and V.H. Dalmia. Mr. Singhal and Mr. Kishore are now longer alive.
Here is a video explainer originally published in 2017.
Prefer to hang than seek bail in Babri case: Bharti
Uma Bharti
Former Union Minister Uma Bharti, one of the senior BJP leaders facing a verdict on September 30 in the Babri Masjid demolition case being heard in a special CBI court, has said that she would “prefer to hang than seek bail” in the case, if found guilty.
In an emotional letter written to BJP president J.P. Nadda, dated September 26, the day he announced his new team of office-bearers (dropping her as party vice-president), she said that her decision not to seek bail if found guilty in the case may make him (Mr. Nadda) exclude her from his team, but that would be the latter’s decision.
“I am proud of my participation in the Ayodhya movement and seeking bail would, I believe dilute this participating. Even if I have [to] hang for having participated, it will be acceptable to me. In such circumstances whether or not you would want to keep me in your team is for you to consider,” she wrote.
States told to strengthen security in communally sensitive districts
On the watch: Security was strengthened at the Erode Railway station in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday ahead of the verdict in the Babri Masjid case. M. GOVARTHAN M_GOVARTHAN
The Centre has alerted all States to strengthen security arrangements in communally hyper-sensitive and sensitive districts to prevent possible clashes post the judgment in the Babri Masjid demolition case by a special court for CBI cases in Lucknow on September 30.
In an alert, the Union Government said that the judgment could have an impact on the law and order situation, as fringe elements on both sides might communalise the verdict. According to the alert, many Muslim organisations, unhappy with the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit case, were hoping that justice could still be done by convicting the accused in the demolition case. They might resort to protests if the verdict was not what they were hoping for, it said.
The alert claimed that while some radical groups were looking for an opportunity to revive the anti-CAA/NRC/NPR agitations in the country, Hindu organisations were hopeful that the accused in the demolition case would be acquitted.
Since the situation was under strain in some States owing to communal issues, State governments should intensify security in sensitive districts and keep a close watch on provocative content in the social media, the Centre said.
Babri demolition verdict on Advani, others today
The govt. alerted that fringe elements on both sides might communalise the Babri demolition case verdict.
A special CBI court here will decide on Wednesday if senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani and 31 others — many of them linked to the Sangh Parivar — are guilty of instigating a mob of kar sevaks under a criminal conspiracy to bring down the Babri Masjid.
The Mughal-era mosque was demolished almost 28 years ago on December 6, 1992, when the VHP-BJP-RSS combine led a Ram Janmabhoomi movement across several parts of the country.
The accused include Mr. Advani, his BJP colleagues Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singh, Lallu Singh, Sakshi Maharaj and Vinay Katiyar, and several others, such as Sadhvi Ritambara and Mahant Nritya Gopal Das. Many of the accused are former or present Members of Parliament or members of State Legislatures.
Mr. Kalyan Singh was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh when the mosque was demolished. According to lawyers connected with the trial, he was the only accused to submit documentary evidence in his defence. None of the accused produced witness in their defence. On the other hand, 351 prosecution witnesses, many of them journalists, were examined during the trial.