Liberhans Commission not yet
ready with Babri Masjid report
Josy Joseph in New Delhi
Uncertainty shrouds Justice M S Liberhans' report on Babri Masjid demolition even as the term of the one-man judicial commission comes to an end on December 31. Commission sources say the judge has so far not taken any decision on when he would submit the report to the government.
"He is yet to decide," sources told rediff.com on Monday. Quite surprisingly, Justice Liberhans is has also not sought an extension from the government.
The commission continues to record statements of individuals who either witnessed the demolition on December 6, 1992 or were party to the case in some other capacity.
Dismissing speculation in media circles that the report was ready, an authoritative source in the commission said the "recording of statements is still on."
In fact, some individuals deposed before Justice Liberhans only a few days back when he was in New Delhi for a conference of judges, the source said.
Justice Liberhans is currently the chief justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court.
Several journalists, politicians, historians and others have already deposed before the commission, whose recordings run into several thousand pages.
The report, whenever it is submitted, is likely to have a major political impact
because of the involvement of Home Minister L K Advani, Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, minister of state Uma Bharati, and some other political heavy-weights such as Kalyan Singh.
The Liberhans Commission was appointed by P V Narasimha Rao, the then prime
minister, in 1992 to ward off criticism against his government for having failed to protect Babri Masjid.
However, the subsequent governments failed to support the commission. Justice Liberhan was transferred several times disturbing the commission's functioning. His last transfer from Chennai
High Court last year by the Bharatiya Janata Party government had come in for criticism,
as it came at a crucial juncture when Justice Liberhans was hearing some cases involving VVIPs, including All India ADMK supremo J Jayalalitha.
Meanwhile, the cases related to the demolition of the Babri Masjid, which investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation and are currently being heard by a special court in Lucknow, are also not getting anywhere.
The progress of these cases has been has been hampered by frequent transfers of judges.
Special Magistrate Vijay Verma, who issued summons to 40 accused in October
1993 for the first time, was moved out soon after. His successor Udai Bir Singh was also
transferred soon after he joined. In his place came Special Magistrate Mahipal Sirohi, who issued summons to the remaining accused. Sirohi was replaced by Vimal Kishore who too did not last in the post too long. Now special judge J P Srivastava has fixed December 22 as the next date for hearing.
Of the two FIRs filed on December 6, 1992, the second one named eight persons including Advani and Uma Bharati. The cases were investigated by the local police and the state Criminal Investigation Department before being handed over to the CBI.
The CBI filed its composite charge-sheet on November 5, 1993. The supplementary charge-sheet was filed only in early 1996, naming nine more people including several priests.
However, four revision petitions filed in the Allahabad High Court have considerably slowed down the progress of these cases.
The Allahabad High Court is currently hearing these revision petitions.
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