Justice MS Liberhan, who headed commission to probe Babri Masjid demolition, dies

Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, who headed a one-man judicial commission to investigate the circumstances that led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, died at the age of 87 on Sunday, The Hindu reported.

His last rites were performed on Monday.

Born on November 11, 1938, in a village near Chandigarh, Liberhan was a former Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh and Madras High Courts.

He began his career at the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 1964.

On February 11, 1987, Liberhan was elevated as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

He retired as the chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on November 10, 2000, but continued to serve as the head of the Liberhan Commission.

The commission was set up days after the Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992 by Hindutva extremists who believed that the site was the birthplace of the deity Ram. It submitted its report to the Union government after 17 years, in 2009.

It went on to become one of the longest-running commissions of inquiry in India’s history.

The panel indicted Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh members for their alleged involvement in destroying the mosque. It also named several senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, Kalyan Singh, Pramod Mahajan and others.

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