Contrary to the UP government's claim, former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in Home Department Subhash Bhan Sadh -- who was supposedly carrying the 23 missing files on Ram Janma Bhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute when he died after an 'accident' in Delhi in 2000 -- was not expected to appear before the Liberhan Commission.

The secretary to the Liberhan Commission told the Delhi Police, which investigated Sadh's death, that no summons were issued to him to attend the commission's proceedings or appear before it on May 1, 2000.

The UP government, however, told the Delhi Police that Sadh was sent to appear before the Commission on May 1 and 2 on behalf of the government, but he carried photocopies, not original files.

In fact, the commission had not asked for any files, said K B Aggarwal, Special Secretary (Home) in the UP Government, in a communication to the Delhi Police on July 6, 2000. Also, there was no order to carry any files to Delhi, Aggarwal said.

The letters from the Liberhan Commission and the state government are quoted in an affidavit which TN Mohan, then Deputy Commissioner in the Delhi Police Headquarters, filed in the Delhi High Court in response to a petition of Subhash's father Bir Bhan Sadh, seeking an impartial inquiry into his son's death.

In his petition, Bir Bhan questioned the police theory that his son had died in an accident. He alleged that his son, who was carrying secret files, had been murdered and that the files were never found.

... contd.