A lookback at 17 years of Liberhan Commission report

New Delhi: The demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992 ignited nationwide communal riots and left nearly 3,000 people dead.

Ten days after the incident, the PV Narasimha Rao government set up a Commission headed by Justice MS Liberhan to probe into the demolition.

The Commission was then asked to complete the probe as soon as possible, however, it took 17 years to submit the report.

The hearing in the case began in March 1993 and the Liberhan Commission submitted its report in June this year.

Initially the panel was based in Lucknow but later they shifted to Delhi.

There were several reports that the Commission did not get the required support from the investigators, particularly during the NDA years when LK Advani was the home minister.

The depositions of various Sangh leaders were also delayed because they procured a stay from the court.

During its 399 sittings, the Commission also recorded statements of several BJP leaders like LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharati, and many RSS leaders involved in the Ayodhya campaign.

When Kalyan Singh deposed before the Commission for the first time in 2004 he called the demolition “an act of God” and said that he had “no regrets, no repentance, no sorrow and grief”.

The panel which also questioned PV Narasimha Rao and Mulayam Singh Yadav completed its last hearing in June 2005.

After an amount near to Rs 8 crore was spent and the panel got 48 extensions, Justice Liberhan finally presented his report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on June 30, 2009.

However, after the alleged leakage of the report on Monday it has to be seen if it will have any impact on the ongoing trial of the Babri Masjid demolition case in Rae Bareli against seven top BJP leaders including LK Advani.

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#Liberhan Commission #Babri Masjid demolition #L K Advani #P V Narasimha Rao