New Delhi: The Congress said Wednesday the special CBI court’s decision to acquit all the accused in the Babri Masjid case runs counter to constitutional spirit and the 2019 Supreme Court judgement that described the demolition of the structure as an ‘egregious violation of the rule of law’.
Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said every Indian who has innate faith in the Constitution and in the spirit of communal amity and brotherhood expects and urges the Central and state governments to file an appeal against the verdict delivered Wednesday.
The governments must follow the letter of the law and the Constitution without any ‘partiality and pre-meditated prejudice’ Surjewala said, adding this is the true calling of rule of law and Constitution.
“The decision of the Special Court to acquit all the accused in Babri Masjid demolition case runs counter to Supreme Court judgement as also the constitutional spirit,” Surjewala stated.
The Supreme Court in its judgement on November 9 last year, pronounced by five judges, had clearly held that the demolition of Babri Masjid was a clear illegality and an ‘egregious violation of the rule of law’, Surjewala told reporters.
Also read: Babri Masjid case: All 32 accused acquitted
“But the Special Court exonerated all the accused. It is clear that the decision of the Special Court runs counter to the decision of the Supreme Court of India,” asserted Surjewala.
“The entire country witnessed a deep-rooted political conspiracy by BJP-RSS and its leaders to destroy India’s communal amity and brotherhood for usurping power at any cost,” he alleged.
The then BJP government of Uttar Pradesh was a ‘co-conspirator in the designed attack’ on India’s Constitutional ethos, Surjewala claimed.
“So much so that the Supreme Court was misled by filing a wrong affidavit on oath. It is only after detailed examination of all these aspects, facts and evidence that the Supreme Court held the demolition of Masjid to be an egregious violation of the rule of law,” he said.
Reacting to the judgement by the special court, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel tweeted, “The Babri verdict is shocking, it goes contrary to principles of natural justice and even the SC’s observation.”
Meanwhile the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said it was not surprised over the special court’s verdict acquitting all accused in the Babri masjid demolition case.
“The court has given verdict in the case today. It was expected, and hence, we are not surprised,” Maharashtra minister and NCP national spokesperson Nawab Malik said in a video message released in Mumbai.
The minister said though the accused were acquitted for want of evidence, probe agencies had filed the case based on evidences only.
“Rath Yatra was taken out before December 6 (1992). The media of the country was present at the (mosque) site and documented the events. There were photos taken and videos captured. There are contents available on YouTube. But the court has given its verdict and we respect it,” Malik said.
In a separate development DMK president MK Stalin alleged that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has failed to act fairly in the Babri mosque demolition case. He said that the CBI has become a ‘caged parrot’ of the BJP-led Centre.
Despite the Supreme Court’s judgment that ‘the entire structure of the mosque was brought down in a calculated act of destroying a place of public worship’, the CBI failed to prove the conspiracy in the case and it was a blow to the rule of law, Stalin said in Chennai.
“The CBI, which should have acted in an impartial and fair manner with a sense of caution, failed to do so and has become a caged parrot of the BJP-led Centre today, which is shameful,” the DMK chief alleged.