Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, a former chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh and Madras high courts who headed the panel probing the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, died in Chandigarh on Sunday. He was 87.
Born on November 11, 1938, near Chandigarh, justice Liberhan began practising at the Punjab and Haryana high court in 1964 before getting elevated to the bench.
He was cremated on Monday in Chandigarh in the presence of friends, family and colleagues.
“My first appearance in the Punjab and Haryana high court was before him, in August 1992,” said Anu Chatrath, senior additional advocate general for Punjab.
Also read: Airlines report 352 major flight defects till June, Akasa and Air India top list
“He was a highly motivating judge and made others feel at ease. I remember, whenever the atmosphere would become tense in court, he would crack a witty one-liner,” Chatrath added.
Justice Liberhan was elected to the Punjab and Haryana bar council in August, 1970 and served as its member until February 11, 1987. He was appointed chief justice of the Madras high court on July 7, 1997 and chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh high court on February 28, 1998.
{{/usCountry}}Justice Liberhan was elected to the Punjab and Haryana bar council in August, 1970 and served as its member until February 11, 1987. He was appointed chief justice of the Madras high court on July 7, 1997 and chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh high court on February 28, 1998.
{{/usCountry}}But his most-high-profile role came when he was named the head of a one-man inquiry commission into the Babri Masjid demolition on December 16, 1992 – 10 days after the structure was controversially razed by a mob.
Also read: Couple killed in Delhi after roof of house collapses, narrow escape for son
It took nearly 17 years and 43 extensions for the Liberhan Commission to deliver the report on June 30, 2009, making it among independent India’s longest-running judicial inquiries.
In his report, justice Liberhan stated that destruction was premeditated, systematic, and a planned conspiracy executed by multiple individuals, including political figures and others part of right-wing organisations.
“... it stands established beyond doubt that the events of the day were neither spontaneous nor unplanned nor an unforeseen overflowing of the people’s emotion, nor the result of a foreign conspiracy as some overly imaginative people have tried to suggest,” the 1,029-page report said.
Also read: Paper leaks, caste factors: What led to BJP loss in Bankipur and Datia?
To be sure, everyone accused in the conspiracy to demolish the mosque was later acquitted.
“While the structure or the methods of the Sangh Parivar for aggregating a substantial public base may neither be illegal nor strictly objectionable, the use of this gargantuan whole for the purpose of the Ayodhya campaign was clearly against the letter and spirit of Indian law and ethos,” the report said.