Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, who died in Chandigarh at 87, is best known for heading the one-man Liberhan Commission into the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition. A former Chief Justice of the Madras and Andhra Pradesh High Courts, he spent 17 years probing the incident, ultimately concluding that the demolition was a meticulously planned conspiracy involving Sangh Parivar organisations, not a spontaneous act.
ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 2, 2026, Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan died in Chandigarh at the age of 87. Liberhan was the same judge whom P. V. Narasimha Rao appointed to head the one-man Commission to investigate the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case. Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan was the former Chief Justice of the Madras and Andhra Pradesh High Courts. Throughout his lifetime, he was well known for his long judicial career and for leading one of the country's longest-running commissions of inquiry.
He became widely known because of this inquiry commission, which investigated one of India's most controversial political events. His conclusion in the inquiry was also significant, as he said that the demolition of the Babri Masjid was not a spontaneous event but a pre-planned one. While his judicial career spanned more than four decades, his name became most famous and inseparable because of his role in the Liberhan Commission.
The demolition of the Babri Masjid by a large crowd of Hindu nationalists in Ayodhya was a major incident that led to widespread religious riots, causing thousands of deaths. But what happened? How was the mosque demolished, and who was behind it? The event shaped modern Indian politics, and to find answers to these questions, the government of P. V. Narasimha Rao appointed Justice M. S. Liberhan to investigate the events under the Liberhan Commission, which was established on December 16, 1992, ten days after the incident happened.
The commission was initially given three months to complete its work, but Justice Liberhan continued the investigation, making it the longest-running Commission of Inquiry in India's history. The commission was a one-man panel headed solely by Liberhan and drew criticism because of the repeated delays in submitting its report. During these delays, Justice Liberhan became a nationally recognised figure as everyone waited to see what the report would reveal and who would be held responsible.
While the Commission was recording statements, interviewing witnesses, and conducting its inquiry, its counsel Anupam Gupta also had differences with Justice Liberhan. In an interview with Frontline, Gupta, who served as the Commission's counsel for eight years between 1999 and 2007, said he left because of these differences. According to Gupta, Justice Liberhan had given the P. V. Narasimha Rao government, which was in power at the Centre at the time of the Babri Masjid demolition, a clean chit. Gupta said he strongly disagreed with this approach and described it as "a sell-out."
The commission ultimately took 17 years, received 48 extensions, and recorded the testimonies of around 100 witnesses. The report was submitted to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on June 30, 2009, but it was not made public immediately. Even after it was submitted, the report was neither released publicly nor tabled in Parliament.
Later, in November 2009, a newspaper leaked a summary of the report, shocking many people, while others questioned whether it was the actual report. The very next day, then Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram tabled the Liberhan Commission Report in Parliament.
The report was a detailed 1,000-page document containing the testimonies of politicians, witnesses, police officers, and administrators. After examining every testimony and piece of evidence, Justice Liberhan concluded that the demolition of the Babri Masjid was a meticulously planned event and was not carried out by an unidentified mob. According to the report, it was "neither spontaneous nor unplanned" but the result of a carefully organised conspiracy.
The report alleged that large amounts of money, amounting to tens of crores of rupees, were collected by Sangh Parivar organisations and routed through various bank accounts to support the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and prepare for the events of December 6, 1992. According to the report, the mobilisation of karsevaks (Voluntary worker) to Ayodhya was systematic and coordinated, not a voluntary or emotional gathering as claimed by the movement's leaders.
The Commission stated that the demolition showed signs of extensive preparation, citing the availability of demolition tools, the organised movement of selected karsevaks, the removal and reinstallation of idols, and the rapid construction of a temporary temple after the mosque was brought down. It concluded that the demolition was the outcome of a joint conspiracy involving several organisations associated with the Sangh Parivar, including the RSS, VHP, BJP, Shiv Sena, and Bajrang Dal.
Later, in 2019, when the Supreme Court delivered its verdict allowing the construction of the Ram Temple on the disputed land in Ayodhya while directing the government to provide an alternative five-acre plot for the construction of a mosque, Justice Liberhan told The Times of India that the verdict settled only the ownership dispute and did not necessarily reflect the feelings of all communities. He also stated that the presence of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at the Ram Temple foundation-laying ceremony reinforced his belief that RSS members had played a role in the demolition.
Liberhan was born on November 11, 1938, in a village that later became part of Chandigarh. He started his career as an advocate in 1962 at the district court in Ambala, where he practised law before moving to the Punjab and Haryana High Court to further strengthen his legal career.
During his legal career, he served as a member and later became the Secretary of the Bar Council. He was also appointed Advocate General of Haryana, serving until 1987. On February 11, 1987, he was elevated as a permanent judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Later, in 1997, he was appointed the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, and in 1998, he was transferred and appointed as the Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, where he served until his retirement in 2000.
Even after his retirement, he continued working on the Liberhan Commission, eventually submitting its final report to the government in 2009. After retiring, he lived a peaceful life at his home in Chandigarh, away from the public eye. His public appearances were mostly limited to speaking about the Babri Masjid inquiry report, which he continued to defend. Although his name remains closely associated with the Commission, his legacy extends far beyond it as a judge who served the judiciary for more than four decades.
(Edited by Harsh Pandey)
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