Term of Liberhan Ayodhya Commission extended till Apr 30

New Delhi, Feb 29 (UNI) The term of the Liberhan Commission, looking into the sequence of events leading to, and all the facts and circumstances relating to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, has been extended by another two months, to April 30.

According to a Home Ministry release, the term of the Commission, which was to end today, has been extended till April 30.

This is another in the series of extensions for the Commission, constituted on December 16, 1992 by an order of the Union Home Ministry following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6 and the riots in Ayodhya city.

The Commission was originally expected to submit its report within three months. However, the term of the commission has been extended several times.

Appointed by former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao two weeks after the demolition on December 16, 1992, to ward off criticism against his government for having failed to protect the mosque, the commission has, in over 15 years of its proceedings, recorded statements of several politicians, bureaucrats and police officials including Mr Kalyan Singh, the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, the late Narasimha Rao, former deputy prime minister L K Advani and his colleagues Mr Murli Manohar Joshi and Ms Uma Bharati as well as Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Top bureaucrats and police officials of Uttar Pradesh, the then district magistrate R N Srivastava and Senior Superintendent of Police D B Roy of Ayodhya also recorded their statements on the demolition.

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