Acquittal of all accused in Babri demolition case travesty of justice: CPI(M)

The CPI(M) described the acquittal of all the accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case by a special CBI court in Lucknow on Wednesday as a "travesty of justice".

The court acquitted all the 32 accused in the case, including BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, in the absence of conclusive proof to suggest a criminal conspiracy.

"The acquittals amount to a travesty of justice. It took 28 long years for this verdict but not justice to be delivered. All the top leaders of the BJP-VHP-RSS who were present at the scene guiding the criminal act have been found to be innocent of the charge of conspiracy to demolish the mosque.

"The Supreme Court, in its Ayodhya judgment on November 9 last year, had called the demolition an egregious violation of the law. Now, the Lucknow court has found the main perpetrators of this crime not guilty," the CPI(M) politburo said in a statement.

It said the verdict will "blemish the image of India as a secular-democratic country governed by the Constitution".

"The CBI must immediately appeal against this judgment," the Left party added.