Babri Masjid demolition case: Allahabad HC to hear plea against BJP patriarch LK Advani's acquittal today

LUCKNOW: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court will hear on Monday a petition challenging the 2020 acquittal of BJP patriarch LK Advani and a galaxy of other senior functionaries of the party and RSS in the Babri Masjid demolition case. Besides Advani, those acquitted by the special CBI court in Lucknow include Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Champat Rai, Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Ritambhara.
The revision petition was filed on January 8, 2021, by Haji Mahboob and Sayyad Akhlaq of Ayodhya, both of whom were presented in court as witnesses to the Babri Masjid demolition as their houses were next to the mosque. Their houses were attacked and burned down after the demolition on December 6, 1992.
The special CBI court of Lucknow had acquitted Advani and 31 others on September 30, 2020, exactly 100 days before the duo filed their revision petition against the ruling. The Babri Masjid demolition case had been registered on December 6, 1992, against 48 accused, 16 of whom died during the course of the trial.
Prominent among those who died during the trial were Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, UP CM Yogi Adityanath's guru and former Gorakhnath Mutt head Mahant Avaidyanath, ex-VHP chief Vishnu Hari Dalmia, former head of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas in Ayodhya, Mahant Ramchandra Das Paramhans, and VHP leader Ashok Singhal.