Lucknow: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said that it will appeal against the special CBI court verdict in the Babri Masjid demolition case in the high court.
The statement comes after the special CBI court held that the Babri Masjid demolition was done by anti-social elements and it was not 'pre-planned' and thus acquitted 32 people accused in the case.
While speaking to ETV Bharat over the Court's judgement, AIMPLB Secretary Zafaryab Jilani said that the judgment pronounced by the special CBI court in the case was wrong.
There were hundreds of statements by the witnesses and in criminal cases, these are very important, Jilani said, adding that among those who gave their statements were IPS officers and journalists who had said that the accused persons were sitting on the dais and inflammatory speeches were being given. The special CBI court has given its verdict ignoring the evidence and so Muslims will challenge it in the high court, he said.
"We will appeal against the judgment in the High Court," said the lawyer, who was also part of the Babri Masjid Action Committee.
Prominent Sunni cleric and All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) member Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali said everyone knows how the 'Babri Masjid was demolished in full public view' and the 'law of the land was shredded to pieces'.
"The Muslims, in this country, have always respected court decisions. In the final judgment of the Babri masjid case, the court had clearly said that the Muslims had been wrongly deprived of a mosque that had been constructed well over 450 years ago. Then the Supreme Court also said that it was unlawful destruction. However, if there was a criminal conspiracy, it had to be decided by the court. Now, Muslim organisations will sit together and decide whether today's judgment has to be appealed against or not," he said.
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Earlier today, 26 of the 32 accused had arrived at the court premises to hear the court's verdict while six others, including senior BJP leader LK Advani, took part in it through video conferencing. There were 49 accused in the case out of which 17 have passed away. Therefore, the court pronounced its judgement on the rest 32 accused, who had been asked to be physically present in the court.
Some of the high-profile personalities in the case included senior BJP leaders such as Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharati, Kalyan Singh, among others. Apart from them, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, Champat Rai, and others were also accused.
There were two cases registered in connection with the Ram Janmabhoomi temple-Babri Masjid dispute. The first was a title suit, whose judgement was pronounced by the Supreme Court on November 9, 2019, paving way for the construction of the Ram temple at the spot.
The Supreme Court had earlier extended till August 31 the tenure of special CBI Judge SK Yadav and directed him to complete the trial and deliver the judgment in the case by that time. The apex court had later granted another month to the special CBI judge to pronounce the judgment in the case.
(With inputs from agency)
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