Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, who headed the commission set up to investigate the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, said on Thursday that the presence of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya vindicated his stand that a team of RSS cadre was involved in the demolition of the mosque, The Times of India reported.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the temple on August 5.

The Liberhan Commission, set up days after the Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992, submitted its report to the Centre after 17 years, in 2009. The panel indicted RSS cadres for their alleged involvement in destroying the mosque. It also named several senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, Kalyan Singh, Pramod Mahajan and others.

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Justice Liberhan, who retired as the chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, told The Times of India that the Supreme Court verdict in the case did not represent the sentiments of all communities. “The Supreme Court has decided the title only,” he said. “My views about the judgement are different. Yes, it does not represent the sentiments of all communities but something has to be relied on at some level.”

In a landmark verdict on November 9, the Supreme Court had ruled that the disputed land in Ayodhya would be handed over to a government-run trust for the construction of a Ram temple. The court said that the demolition of Babri Masjid was illegal and directed the government to acquire an alternative plot of land to build a mosque.

On August 4, Liberhan had told IANS in an interview that he always had the feeling that a Ram temple would eventually be built in Ayodhya. “It is a personal feeling. I have no comments to offer on why I have had this feeling,” Liberhan said.