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Ayodhya case: Liberhan Commission exempts Vajpayee, Advani
New Delhi, July 28: The Liberhan Commission of inquiry on Babri Masjid demolition today rejected pleas for summoning Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani as witnesses but decided to summon former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh as witness.
New Delhi, July 28: The Liberhan Commission of inquiry on Babri Masjid demolition today rejected pleas for summoning Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani as witnesses but decided to summon former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh as witness.
Singh has been summoned as commission`s witness.
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, during whose tenure the disputed structure was demolished, has been asked to depose before the commission on August 7 and 8.
The commission is probing the sequence of events which led to the demolition of disputed structure at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
Mohd Aslam alias Bhure, on whose petition the Supreme Court had last year banned all kinds of religious activities on the 67 acres of acquired land adjacent to the disputed site, had filed separate applications through advocate O P Sharma seeking to summon Vajpayee and Kalyan Singh and pleading the commission to recall Advani as witness.
The other application was filed by AIMPLB to summon Kalyan Singh as their witness, whose recent remarks about the alleged conspiracy involving Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister had created a flutter in the political circle.
The Centre had opposed the applications contending that the stage for recording of the evidence has been concluded and had urged the commission to reject the pleas for summoning Vajpayee, Advani and Singh.
However, commission counsel Anupam Gupta and AIMPLB had contended that the summoning of the then Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh was relevant as it would complete the terms of reference of the commission with regard to his role during the demolition of the disputed structure.
Singh`s counsel B B Saxena had opposed the application on the lines of that of the Centre and had said that he (Singh) would never like to be the witness of AIMPLB.
The former chief minister had earlier filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court that his deposition before the commission would prejudice his case as he was facing trial in the demolition case along with others.
But the writ was dismissed as infructuous on April 1 by the high court after Singh`s counsel had submitted that the commission has closed the recording of evidence and final arguments on the issue were to begin.
Bureau Report
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, during whose tenure the disputed structure was demolished, has been asked to depose before the commission on August 7 and 8.
The commission is probing the sequence of events which led to the demolition of disputed structure at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
Mohd Aslam alias Bhure, on whose petition the Supreme Court had last year banned all kinds of religious activities on the 67 acres of acquired land adjacent to the disputed site, had filed separate applications through advocate O P Sharma seeking to summon Vajpayee and Kalyan Singh and pleading the commission to recall Advani as witness.
The other application was filed by AIMPLB to summon Kalyan Singh as their witness, whose recent remarks about the alleged conspiracy involving Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister had created a flutter in the political circle.
The Centre had opposed the applications contending that the stage for recording of the evidence has been concluded and had urged the commission to reject the pleas for summoning Vajpayee, Advani and Singh.
However, commission counsel Anupam Gupta and AIMPLB had contended that the summoning of the then Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh was relevant as it would complete the terms of reference of the commission with regard to his role during the demolition of the disputed structure.
Singh`s counsel B B Saxena had opposed the application on the lines of that of the Centre and had said that he (Singh) would never like to be the witness of AIMPLB.
The former chief minister had earlier filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court that his deposition before the commission would prejudice his case as he was facing trial in the demolition case along with others.
But the writ was dismissed as infructuous on April 1 by the high court after Singh`s counsel had submitted that the commission has closed the recording of evidence and final arguments on the issue were to begin.
Bureau Report