Acquittal of all accused in Babri demolition case 'travesty of justice': Left parties

The acquittal of all the accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case by a special CBI court in Lucknow on Wednesday was a "travesty of justice" that will "blemish the image of India as a secular-democratic country governed by the Constitution", the Left parties said.

The acquittal of all the accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case by a special CBI court in Lucknow on Wednesday was a "travesty of justice" that will "blemish the image of India as a secular-democratic country governed by the Constitution", the Left parties said. The court acquitted all the 32 accused in the case, including BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, in the absence of conclusive proof to suggest a criminal conspiracy.

"The acquittals amount to a travesty of justice. It took 28 long years for this verdict but not justice to be delivered. All the top leaders of the BJP-VHP-RSS who were present at the scene guiding the criminal act have been found to be innocent of the charge of conspiracy to demolish the mosque," the CPI(M) politburo said in a statement. "The Supreme Court, in its Ayodhya judgment on November 9 last year, had called the demolition an egregious violation of the law. Now, the Lucknow court has found the main perpetrators of this crime not guilty," it said.

The Left party said the verdict will "blemish the image of India as a secular-democratic country governed by the Constitution". "The CBI must immediately appeal against this judgment," it added. CPI general secretary D Raja in a separate statement said his party was “shocked and dismayed” by the verdict. “The Party feels that the verdict which is a travesty of justice is an assault on the functioning of an independent institution as the Supreme Court has earlier in a verdict termed the demolition as an illegal and criminal act.

“It is a well known fact that on intense campaign along with Ratha Yatra was carried out by RSS-BJP leaders for mobilising people against the Babri Masjid which finally resulted in its demolition,” he said..