Former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, former union ministers, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, former MP Vinay Katiyar and several other VHP leaders mong the 32 were acquitted after a special court delivered the much-awaited judgement on Wendesday in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case.

Almost four years after the Lucknow High Court shifted out to the new building on Faizabad road, the old High court building in Kaiserbagh was buzzing.

It is here that the special CBI court pronounced its verdict in the Babri mosque demolition case on Wednesday. As Judge SK Yadav began reading out the brief of the case, the court observed that evidences against the accused were not strong enough and the Mosque demolition incident was not pre-planned.

Special CBI judge SK Yadav, in his verdict, said that the demotion was not a planned incident but a spontaneous act. He said that Ashok Singhal and other Sangh Parivar leaders wanted to save the structure as Ram Lalla statues were inside.

The court observed that leaders who were present on the dais repeatedly tried to persuade the 'kar sewaks' against taking any action on that day. The court further said the CBI has failed to substantiate the charges levelled against the 32 accused persons. The court also said that the video recordings submitted to the court were 'tampered with'.

The judge pointed out that the prosecution could not produce enough evidence against the accused. He said that the authenticity of audio, video provided by CBI could not be proven and the audio of the speeches were not clear.

The court also said that those who climbed on the dome, were anti-social elements. The 26 accused persons who were present in court on Wednesday, said that they had always maintained that the demotion was a conspiracy by the then Congress government.

Babri plaintiff, Iqbal Ansari, said in Ayodhya that after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Ram temple last year, the demolition case had lost its relevance. "I welcome acquittal of the 32 persons by the court. There should be no further dispute on the matter," he said.

(With inputs from IANS)