A special CBI court in Lucknow would be pronouncing its verdict on the Babri Masjid demolition case in which veteran BJP leaders including LK Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi, and Uma Bharti have been named as the accused in destructing the mosque in Ayodhya in December 1992 by claiming that the mosque was built after collapsing the ancient Hindu temple that marked the birthplace of Lord Ram.

On September 16, the special court announced that it would be issuing the verdict on September 30, as the trajectory of the decades-long case has unfolded its final phase which would seemingly irk the veteran BJP leaders, who are the main accused in the case. The court had directed all 32 accused to present in the court while it pronounces the judgment. 

The case carries 32 accused including former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani and BJP leaders Murali Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singh, and Vinay Katiyar. According to reports close to the developments, accused Vinay Katiyar, Dharamdas, Vedanti, Lallu Singh, Champat Rai, and Pawan Pandey had arrived at the courtroom on Wednesday morning to hear the judgment whereas the important accused had skipped the hearing. 

LK Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, and Kalyan Singh had overruled the order to present at the court and skipped the hearing. Uma Bharti cited that she has tested positive for the COVID-19 viral infection whereas the other three accused had skipped the hearing on the grounds of age and health. Justice Surendra Kumar Yadav of the special CBI court would be pronouncing the verdict. 

Given the severity of the case and accused, the Uttar Pradesh Police department had deployed heavy security at the court premises to counter the grounds of any untoward incidents. The reports say that Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel have been stationed in 25 sensitive districts. 

The case has been one of the highly sensitive issues and in November last year, the five-member constitutional bench of the Supreme Court headed by then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had unanimously pronounced the verdict of allowing the construction of Ram temple in the disputed site. 

While the apex court had ordered the construction and it has also been started after the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone last month, the Babri Masjid demolition case has been ruling for over two decades. On July 24 this year, one of the main accused in the case LK Advani had appeared before the special CBI court through video conference had recorded his statement and BJP leaders Murali Manohar Joshi had also recorded his statement to the special court. 

The CBI has produced about 350 witnesses and around 600 documentary evidence before the court as the demolition had instigated the communal riots across the country during which around 3,000 people have died.