Liberhan Commission gets two months extension

The term of the Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry has been extended by two months upto August 31, 2007.

New Delhi, July 3 : The term of the Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry has been extended by two months upto August 31, 2007.

The Commission is inquiring into the destruction of the Ram Janma Bhoomi-Babri Masjid structure at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

It was constituted during the regime of late Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, by an order of the Home Ministry following the demolition of the Babri mosque on 6 December and the riots in Ayodhya.

In the last 14 years of hearing, the Commission has held over 325 sittings and examined over 100 witnesses, including 14 defence witnesses, 53 Central Government witnesses and 32 Commission witnesses.

The commission had recorded statements of several politicians, bureaucrats and police officials, including former Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Cabinet Ministers Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharati, incumbent UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and Bajrang Dal leader Vinay Katiyar.

Top bureaucrats and police officials of UP, former District Magistrate R.N. Srivastava and Senior Superintendent of Police D.B. Roy of Ayodhya had also recorded their statements on the demolition.

The destruction of the mosque was followed by communal riots across the country, in which there was a huge loss of life and property.

ANI