Allies corner UPA over Liberhan panel report

NEW DELHI: The UPA government on Friday found itself pushed into a corner in the Lok Sabha by its own allies, who wanted to know whether the Liberhan Commission, probing the Babri Masjid demolition, would be given another extension.

Raising the matter under Rule 377, former Union minister Devendra Prasad Yadav, leader of the RJD parliamentary party, questioned the delay in the submission of the Commission’s report. “It was set up soon after the Babri Masjid was razed to the ground on December 6, 1992. Fourteen years and 39 extensions later, the commission is yet to complete its proceedings. When will it present its report?” the RJD leader sought to know.

No sooner had Mr Yadav finished making his submission that belligerent members belonging to the Left, Samajwadi Party, the BSP as well as the AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi, demanded a categorical reply from the government.

Union home minister Shivraj Patil, who was present in the House, sought to mollify them by disclosing that the Liberhan Commission was likely to submit its report by December 31.

“It’s not a question of granting another extension. The Commission is writing its report. We have been informally told that the report could be given before the December 31 deadline,” Mr Patil said.

The Union minister attributed the delay to procedural reasons such as the stay orders obtained by some witnesses on personally appearing before the Commission. “We are all expecting to get the report,” he said.

But Mr Patil’s reply didn’t satisfy some MPs. “What will be the difference between you and the NDA if you cannot force the Commission to submit its report fast?” an angry Mohd. Salim (CPM) asked.

The Justice MS Liberhan Commission, set up by the Narasimha Rao government, 10 days after the demolition, was entrusted with the task of inquiring into the demolition and the circumstances that led to it.

It has, as pointed out by Mr Yadav, already been given 39 extensions — the last one on June 29 this year. Despite being set up on December 16, 1992, it could commence proceedings only from January, 1993. It was subsequently kept in abeyance for about two years in the wake of certain interim orders passed by the Delhi High Court, and could only commence its regular hearings from 1995.