Judgement on Demolition of Disputed Structure also known as Babri Masjid by CBI Court Lucknow on 30th September , 2020 .

 In its judgment running into more than 2,000 pages and written in Hindi , Special CBI Judge held on 30th September that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) failed to produce any conclusive evidence to prove any connivance that led to the destruction of the mosque.

The trial was conducted for the alleged commission of offences under Sections 147 (Rioting), 153-A (Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion), 153-B (Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) 295 (Injuring or defiling place of worship) 295-A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class), and 505 (Statements conducing to public mischief) IPC read with Sections 149 (Unlawful assembly) and 120B (Criminal conspiracy) IPC.

The Court held that there was nothing on record to establish the existence of a conspiracy to demolish the Babri Masjid.

With regard to the newspaper clippings related to the dismantling of the disputed structure presented by CBI, the Court opined that the same was not acceptable as evidence, as their original copies were not produced.

The CBI's reliance on photographs from the demolished site was also dismissed, as the negatives of the same were not submitted before the Court.

Apart from the news reports and photographs, the Court also considered the video tapes shown by the investigating agency. It, however, refused to rely on the same, on the grounds that the video cassettes were not in sealed envelopes and that the footage was not clear.

The CBI Court also held that no such act was done by the accused BJP leaders which hurt the spirit of another sect or affected the unity and integrity of the nation.

While the state government had made all safety arrangements and efforts were made by the leaders, the structure at Babri Masjid was demolished by a mob.

The Court opined that the accused persons had no knowledge or premonition that a mob of rowdy kar sevaks would demolish the structure. 

 

 

Timeline of Events

 On the day of demolition of disputed structure , two cases — crime number 197/1992 and crime number 198/1992 registered through two different FIRs lodged at Ram Janmabhoomi police station, Ayodhya. During investigation, 47 more FIRs were lodged.

 On December 6, 1992, the first FIR was lodged by station house officer, RJB Police Station, PN Shukla at 5.15pm against lakhs of unknown Kar Sevaks under IPC sections 395 (dacoity), 397(dacoity or robbery with attempt to cause death), 332 (causing hurt to deter public servants), 337, 338 (grievous hurt), 295 (injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult religion of any class), 297 (trespass in any place of worship) and 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion). The time of occurrence in this report shown around 12noon to 12.15pm. The case was registered under Crime No. 198 of 1992.

 On the same day, the second FIR was lodged by in charge, RJB police outpost, Ganga Prasad Tiwari  at same police station at 5.25pm, saying that at about 10am while he was on duty near Kar Seva organized by Vishwa Hindu Parishad, he found that Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Ashok Singhal, Vinay Katiyar, Giriraj Kishore, Vishnu Hari Dalmia, Uma Bharti and Sadhvi Ritambhara were sitting on the dais at Ram Katha Kunj and were instigating the Kar Sevaks through speeches. As a consequence of that, several Kar Sevaks got infuriated and demolished the disputed structure. This case was registered under Crime No. 198 of 1992. Those named were accused of inflammatory speeches, spreading communal hatred, promoting enmity, making imputations and assertions prejudicial to national integration and statements conducing to public mischief.

The cases 197/1992 and 198/1992 handed over to the CB-CID by UP government. On the basis of case number 198, Advani and other leaders were arrested two days after demolition, on December 8, following imposition of President’s Rule in UP. The 197/1992 case handed over to the CBI while the 198/1992 case remained with the CBCID. UP state government, in consultation with the Allahabad high court  sets up a special court of judicial magistrate at Lalitpur district for trial of all the cases including 197/1992 and 198/1992. The decision is taken because it was perceived too risky to lodge the political leaders in Ayodhya or Lucknow, hence police kept them at a guest house in Lalitpur.

FEBRUARY 27, 1993  : CB-CID files chargesheet in Lalitpur court in 198/1992 case under sections 153-A, 153-B, 505, 147 (punishment for rioting), 149 (membership of unlawful assembly, guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common  object). On March 1, special magistrate takes cognizance of chargesheet.  In consultation with the high court, UP government through a notification modified the December 12, 1992 notification and changed the place of sitting of the special court of judicial magistrate from Lalitpur to Rae Bareli. All  cases including 197/1992 and 198/1992 were shifted to Rae Bareli. This was done because traveling to Lalitpur was time consuming and posed various problem. 

AUGUST 26, 1993 :  The 198/1992 case and 47 cases related to assault on the media also handed over to CBI by the Centre on state government’s request so that they can be probed and tried together with the 197/1992.

SEPTEMBER 8, 1993  :  UP government, then under President’s rule, in consultation with HC, issued a notification to create a special CBI court in Lucknow headed by additional chief judicial magistrate (Ayodhya Matters) with jurisdiction in the entire UP.

SEPTEMBER 9, 1993  :  The 197/1992 case along with 47 other cases referred to the Lucknow special court. However, the 198/192 case that named big leaders not included in the transfer and its trial continued in Rae Bareli.

SEPTEMBER 9, 1993 : CBI seeks permission from Rae Bareli trial court to reinvestigate 198/1992. Permission was granted by court on September 10, 1993.

SEPTEMBER 17, 1993  :  CBI requested state government to transfer 198/1992 case to Lucknow special court so that both the related cases can be tried together in the interest of justice.

OCTOBER 5, 1993 :  CBI clubs all the 49 cases including 197/1992 and 198/1997 and files a composite chargesheet in the Lucknow special court saying that all the cases were part of the same transaction. The chargesheet named 40 persons, mostly senior politicians and included 8 named in the 198/1992 FIR. This is where conspiracy charge was levelled against Advani and other high profile accused. (It might be mentioned that CBI did not submit the chargesheet at Rae Bareli court where trial of 198/1992 was on

OCTOBER 8, 1993  :  UP government amends the notification dated September 9, 1993, inserting the case 198/1992, so that all 49 cases can be tried together by Lucknow special court. However, it was done without consulting the HC.

OCTOBER 11, 1993  :  Lucknow special court takes cognizance of offences based on consolidated chargesheet filed by CBI.

OCTOBER 18, 1993   : As CBI had asked for reinvestigation of the 198/1992 case from the Rae Bareli court earlier, the latter sought a report from the agency regarding progress of the investigation.

DECEMBER 6, 1993  :  CBI informs Rae Bareli court that it has filed a consolidated chargesheet at Lucknow court

JANUARY 24, 1994   : The magistrate at Rae Bareli directs transfer of the records to Lucknow. A day later, records were brought to Lucknow. Objections against the move by some accused were rejected by the court on March 23, 1994.

AUGUST 27, 1994   : After hearing all the accused and parties, Lucknow special court committed the case for trial.

NOVEMBER 11, 1994 :  Lucknow special court permits CBI to carry on probe.

JANUARY 11, 1996  :  Supplementary chargesheet filed by CBI adding 9 more names as accused in Lucknow CBI court.