The Hindu : National : Liberhan panel sets deadline for Centre

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Friday, Dec 09, 2005

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National

Liberhan panel sets deadline for Centre

Legal Correspondent

"Last chance to express its view on masjid demolition" "... Who is the author of the [demolition] movement — BJP, RSS, VHP or the Shiv Sena? Let the Centre come out clear on its perception of those responsible for the incident"

New Delhi: Justice Liberhan Commission — probing the sequence of events leading to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya — gave the last chance on Thursday to the Centre to explain as to who it thought was responsible for the demolition on December 6, 1992.

Mr. Justice Liberhan, granting time till December 30 to make its final written submissions, told the Centre's counsel that it should specify its perception regarding responsibility of institutions, individuals and agencies for the demolition.

He said: "It is high time that the Centre assisted the Commission. The final submissions should be comprehensive and cover all aspects. Who is the author of the [demolition] movement — BJP, RSS, VHP or the Shiv Sena? Let the Centre come out clear on its perception of those responsible for the incident."

During the NDA regime, the Centre filed an affidavit disputing the facts in the `white paper' of the Narasimha Rao Government by asserting that the chain of events leading to demolition of the Babri Masjid started in 1528 itself when the mosque was erected and not when the idol of Lord Rama was placed in the central dome of the disputed structure on the night of December 22/23, 1949.

It was stated "the starting point of the whole chain of events which ultimately led to the demolition was the erection of mosque and continuous and relentless struggle of Hindus to regain the site which is mentioned partly in the white paper issued by the Central Government and partly in BJP's white paper and judgments of the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court and the Supreme Court."

The NDA Government had also maintained that the `disputed structure' in Ayodhya was the birthplace of Lord Rama and it was an undisputed fact. Therefore, it had argued that the Commission could not probe into the role of the Union Government while dealing with the `sequence of events' as it was not part of the terms of reference of the probe. Further, the Commission also had no jurisdiction to go into the concepts of "secularism," "Hindutva" and "Hinduism," it said, and added that while dealing with the sequence of events leading to the demolition of the `disputed structure,' the Commission should begin at least from 1855, if not from 1528 when the mosque was erected.

However, after the UPA Government came to power in May 2004, it was made clear to the Commission that the earlier affidavit was not acceptable to it and a new affidavit would be filed. Since the Centre had not come out with the written submissions for more than 18 months, the Commission was on Thursday annoyed and gave the last chance for filing the submissions.

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