India, July 22 -- More than two decades after two BJP functionaries were accused of barging into a police station and threatening officers during a late-night crackdown on a party worker, a city sessions court recently acquitted them for lack of evidence.

The prosecution failed to establish the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, the court said. "In the absence of cogent, consistent, and reliable evidence, both the accused are entitled to the benefit of doubt," observed additional sessions judge Satyanarayan R Navander, in the 38-page judgment delivered on July 19.

The two functionaries, Gopal Chinaiyya Shetty, 71, and Ganesh Dattaram Khankar, 52, were accused of criminally intimidating and obstructing police officers while they were tak...