The Sangareddy Court on Thursday acquitted Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen President Asaduddin Owaisi and four others in the 2005 Muthangi Masjid demolition case, ANI reported. Following the Medak court’s ruling, Owaisi on Twitter said, “Will Congress leaders have the courtesy to apologise for allowing the demolition without following the due process of law when they were in power.”

In 2005, Owaisi, his brother Akbaruddin and 20 others had staged a protest against the demolition of a mosque in Muttangi village while the Hyderabad-Mumbai National Highway was being widened. Following the demonstration, a case had been registered against Owaisi and the other accused under several sections of the Indian Penal Code for “promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion and rioting”.

In 2013, Akbaruddin Owaisi was arrested on sedition charges in connection with an alleged hate speech. Owaisi’s organisation had been barred from contesting civic elections in Maharashtra in July 2016, NDTV reported. Its registration as a state political party was cancelled by the Maharashtra Election Commission for failing to submit details of its income and funding, according to ANI.