Satyameva Jayate, moment of joy for every Indian: CM BS Yediyurappa

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday welcomed the acquittal of BJP stalwart L K Advani and 31 others in the Babri mosque demolition case by a CBI court, describing it as a "victory of truth."

All the 32 accused in the case, including former Deputy Prime Minister Advani, ex union minister M M Joshi and Uma Bharti were acquitted by a special CBI court in Lucknow, which said there was no conclusive proof against them.

"The court's observation that the incident was not pre planned is a victory of truth," Yediyurappa told reporters.

Reacting to the judgement, he said he was personally very much pleased with it as he too was part of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

Giving credit to BJP veterans Advani, Joshi and Bharti for setting the stage for construction of the Ram temple, whose foundation laying ceremony was performed about two months ago at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, the CM said, "in this moment of joy for every Indian, I welcome the verdict." Recalling the day the mosque was demolished, Yediyurappa said no one could ever forget Advani's historic speech on the occasion.

"Satyameva Jayate. I welcome the Special CBI Court verdict, acquitting all (the) accused, including our senior leaders L.K. Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi, Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharti and others in the case," tweeted Yediyurappa soon after special judge S.K. Yadav in Lucknow gave the much-awaited judgement amid tight security.

Reacting to the verdict, BJP national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh said, "Truth prevails."

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan called it justice after 28 years of legal battle, while Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai termed the judgment "historic." BJP state chief Nalin Kumar Kateel called upon people to "welcome this momentous judgement."

However, the Social Democratic Party of India state chief Elyas Thumbe termed the verdict as 'unjust'. "The verdict is absolutely unjust. In spite of clear evidence, the CBI court denied justice," he said in a video message circulated in social media.