(Source: Outllokindia.com)
LIBERHAN
Did Justice Liberhan "buckle under pressure" to save Advani?
NEW DELHI, SEPT 7 (PTI)
Differences within the one-man Commission going into the Ayodhya demolition have come out in the open with its counsel attacking Justice Liberhan of "buckling under pressure from the establishment" to tone down the questioning of BJP leader L K Advani when he was the Home Minister.
Commission's counsel Anupam Gupta told "Outlook" that he has not not been consulted in the last eight months and would like to disassociate himself from the final report of the Commission.
"I am out of sync with the Judge," he said adding he had differences with the judge over addressing Advani's role and responsibility for the Babri Masjid demolition.
The Commission, set up in the wake of the demolition in 1992, was recently given two months extension to give its final report. This was the 41st extension.
"My relations with Justice Liberhan had come under strain midway during my examination of Advani when he was the Home Minister. On June 13, 2001 a major confrontation took place between Advani and myself in the open court on the issue of Nehru's attitude to the renovation of the Somnath temple.
"Advani lost his cool and lodged a strong verbal protest with the judge. That evening, buckling under intense pressure from the establishment, Justice Liberhan asked me to tone down my questioning of Advani. I refused and told him that I would quit the commission next morning but after making a statement in the court," Gupta said.
Gupta said Justice Liberhan and he often had disagreed on several important issues. He believed that the principal challenge before the Commission was how it evaluated the role and responsibility of Advani.
"I am not not quite certain as to whether Justice Liberhan accords Advani the same central importance as I do, or whether he would like to address his role and responsibility," he said.
He also felt that the then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao's inaction at the time of the demolition has to be taken serious note of.
Gupta said he was kept completely in the dark about the Commission finalising its report. "I have kept out of touch with Justice Liberhan since January, 2001. I have seen the media reports which suggest that it has been finalised. If that be the truth, then I am clearly out of sync with Justice Liberhan.
"As per the understanding between us, we were supposed to actively interact with each other during the writing of the report. I am at pains to dispel the impression that I am the author of a report or that I have actively collaborated in the writing of a report which I have not not seen."
When asked if he thought Advani's role was "peripheral", Gupta said "I don't believe that Advani's role is peripheral. Advani started his rath yatra to Ayodhya from the Somnath temple in Gujarat.
"The ideological movement from Somnath to Ayodhya represents the anti-history of secularism in India. It was the Ayodhya movement which culminated in the demolition of the Babri Masjid and Advani carried the movement on his shoulders."
The magazine said when it contacted Justice Liberhan he refused to offer any comments about the contents of the report but added he was anxious to bringing it out before the current extension ends on October 31.
© Copyright PTI.
|
