Muslim bodies to collectively decide on challenging Babri case verdict

Lucknow, Sep 30: All-India Muslim Personal Law Board senior member Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali on Wednesday said organisations representing the community will together decide whether they need to challenge or not the CBI court verdict in the Babri mosque demolition case.

On Wednesday morning, the special court had acquitted all 32 accused, including former deputy prime minister L K Advani, ex-Union minister M M Joshi, Uma Bharti and former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh.

Refusing to comment on their acquittal, Mahali said, "I don''t have anything to say on the verdict. Everybody knows how the Babri mosque was sacrificed on December 6, 1992 in Ayodhya and how all rules were flouted."

In its verdict on the Ramjanmabhoomi land dispute case on November 9 last year, the Supreme Court had said Muslims were wrongly deprived of their mosque, he said, adding that the demolition of the masjid was an illegal act.

"It is for the court to decide if anyone is guilty or not. Now, Muslim organisations will sit together and decide if an appeal is to be made against it; whether there would be any benefit in filing an appeal or not, only time will tell," he said.

He said Muslims in the country have always honoured court verdicts and will continue to do so.