Justice M.S. Liberhan, Who Headed Babri Masjid Demolition Inquiry, Dies at 87

India: Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, the former high court chief justice who headed the long-running judicial commission probing the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, passed away on Sunday at the age of 87.

He died in Chandigarh. His last rites were performed on Monday in the presence of family members, friends, colleagues and members of the legal fraternity.

On December 16, 1992, days after the Babri Masjid was razed on December 6, he was appointed to head the one-man Liberhan Commission of Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the demolition. The commission submitted its report in June 2009 after nearly 17 years and multiple extensions, making it one of the longest-running inquiry commissions in India’s history. The report concluded that the events were “neither spontaneous nor unplanned.”

Liberhan continued as chairman of the commission even after retiring from the judiciary.