The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a criminal appeal filed against the order of the Special CBI Court in Lucknow, which acquitted all 32 people accused of hatching the criminal conspiracy that led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid mosque on December 6, 1992 (including prominent BJP leaders L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharati, Kalyan Singh, and others).

On October 31, the bench of Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Saroj Yadav dismissed the appeal after reserving the verdict.

Essentially, the appeal was filed to challenge Special CBI Judge S K Yadav’s decision (given on September 30, 2020) that the demolition of the mosque was not premeditated and that there was no criminal conspiracy behind it. The judgement, which was originally delivered in Hindi, acquitted individuals such as renowned BJP leaders L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharati, Kalyan Singh, and others.

The appeal was filed by two Ayodhya residents, Haji Mahmood Ahmad and Syed Akhlaq Ahmad, who claimed to have seen the disputed mosque demolished on December 6, 1992. In their appeal, they also stated that they were victims of the incident.

Syed Akhlaq Ahmad particularly emphasised that he is not only a witness to the incident, but also a victim because his residence and household possessions were destroyed.

The victims further claimed that the CBI investigated the case because it is the prime investigating agency in criminal cases, but when the guilty were acquitted, the agency opposed the instant appeal as if it was representing the accused.

Case: Haji Mahboob Ahmad and Anr. v. State of U.P. Thru. Home Secy. Lucknow and Ors