Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya

• 28 years after the Babri Masjid was demolished in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, a special CBI court in Lucknow on Wednesday will be delivering its verdict on the case

• Senior BJP leaders like LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti as key accused in the case and that has heightened the people’s interest in the verdict

• The special court will rule on Wednesday if LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi had a hand in the razing of the disputed structure in 1992

Who are the accused?

FIR No. 197/92 blames the kar sevaks for allegedly demolishing the mosque

FIR No. 198/92 names:

• LK Advani,
• Professor Murli Manohar Joshi,
• Uma Bharti,
• BJP Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Katiyar,
• Sakshi Maharaj
• Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders Ashok Singhal,
• Giriraj Kishore,
• Vishnu Hari Dalmiya and
• Sadhvi Rithambara, and also
• Shiv Sena leader Balasaheb Thackeray whose name was removed after his demise.
• Former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh, who is among 13 accused, is out on bail.

47 more cases were filed against these leaders but they were merged into one.

In 2017, the court in Lucknow ordered framing of charges against BJP veterans Advani, Joshi, Bharti and nine others in the case. But charges against Kalyan Singh could not be restored in 2017 on account of constitutional immunity as he was then Governor of Rajasthan. In September last year, his tenure as Governor ended and then charges were framed against him.

What happened on 6 December 1992?

The Babri Masjid was demolished by an unruly mob of kar sevaks that day as they argued that the Babri Masjid was built during the time of the first Mughal ruler at the spot which marked the birthplace of Lord Ram. In the riots that ensued across the country thereafter, more than a thousand people had reportedly died. Gangster terrorist Dawood Ibrahim reportedly cited this demolition as the trigger for the heinous act of carrying out 12 blasts in Mumbai soon after.

The Supreme Court in November 2019 had given its verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute. The court awarded the site to Hindu claimants, noted that the demolition was “an egregious violation of the rule of law”.

Exercising its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the court directed that five acres of land be allotted to the Sunni Central Waqf Board for construction of a mosque within Ayodhya. Since the verdict also stated that the act of demolition was a “violation” and that the accused who conspired must be punished, it remains to be seen if that affects the judgement tomorrow.