Govt tables Liberhan report on Babri in Parliament

NEW DELHI: The government decided to table in Parliament today the report of the Liberhan Commission that probed the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 and Action Taken Report on it, a day after the leakage of the findings set off a political storm.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in the absence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is away in the United States.

Cabinet sources earlier said that the report was expected to be tabled in either House of Parliament at 12 noon after the Question Hour.

Publication of excerpts of the report had sparked a furore with the main opposition BJP accusing the government of "selectively leaking" the report which is believed to have indicted top BJP leaders L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and other functionaries for the demolition of the structure.

Congress had hit back saying the whole nation knows that the BJP had shed "crocodile tears" after its senior functionaries had watched people causing destruction and mayhem.

Justice M S Liberhan had submitted his findings to the government on June 30 this year after an inquiry spanning nearly 17 years.