Former CBI director P.C. Sharma on Wednesday said the acquittal of all the 32 accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case was a vindication of his decision to drop the criminal conspiracy charge against then deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani.

“The verdict of the court has brought to light what I had opined nearly two decades back that there was no criminal conspiracy,” Sharma said.

He said that during his tenure — first as an officiating director of the CBI and later during his two-year stint as its chief — he had gone through every detail of the case and reached the conclusion that Advani could not be accused of criminal conspiracy.

“Pursuing this, an application was moved before the Rae Bareilly court informing it of the CBI’s decision in 2003, but all hell broke loose and the agency was questioned and even accused of siding with the political government of the day,” Sharma, who is in his early 80s, said.

He added: “I believe today’s verdict is an answer to all those accusations and the case has reached its finality.”