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Babri mosque demolition case verdict on Sept 30

By The Assam Tribune

LUCKNOW, Sept 16 - A special court here will deliver judgement on September 30 in the Babri Masjid demolition case, ruling whether BJP veterans like LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were involved in razing the mosque in 1992. Judge SK Yadav on Wednesday directed all 32 accused to remain present in the court on the day of the judgement. The accused include former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, former Union ministers MM Joshi and Uma Bharti, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Rithambara.

The CBI court was working against the month-end deadline set by the Supreme Court for the verdict. The final arguments by the defence and the prosecution were heard by September 1, and then the judge began writing the verdict. Some of the final submissions by the accused were made through video conference. The Central Bureau of Investigation, which investigated the case, has produced 351 witnesses and about 600 documents as evidence before the court. Charges were framed against 48 people, but 16 died during the course of the trial. The CBI argued that the accused conspired and instigated the kar sevaks to demolish the 16th century mosque.

But the accused pleaded that there is no evidence to prove their guilt and claimed they were falsely implicated in the case by the then Congress-led Central government as political vendetta.

The mosque was pulled down on December 6, 1992 by mobs of kar sevaks who maintained that it was built during the time of the first Mughal ruler at the spot which marked the birthplace of Ram temple.

In a landmark judgement last year, the Supreme Court allotted the disputed site in Ayodhya for the construction of a Ram temple, while calling the demolition of the mosque a violation of the rule of law. An alternative five-acre site has been found in the city for building a mosque.

Champat Rai, the general secretary of the trust in charge of constructing the temple, is among the 32 accused in the Babri mosque demolition case. � PTI

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