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Ayodhya probe panel dismayed at govt inaction

The Liberhan Commission, probing the conspiracy aspect of the Babri Masjid demolition, has expressed dismay at the failure of the Centre and Uttar Pradesh governments to get the stay order on its summons against 17 Hindutva leaders vacated.

"Counsel for the Centre, state government and advocate general have been requested several times to get the Lucknow bench stay order vacated. Unfortunately, no step has been taken till today to vacate the stay order," the Commission said.

The Commission, headed by Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, had summoned leaders belonging to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Bharatiya Janata Party and Vishwa Hindu Parishad, including L K Advani, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharti, Ashok Singhal, Acharya Giriraj, Kishore and Vinay Katiyar. However, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court had stayed the order in 1994.

The Commission's expression of dismay follows an application which M M Kashyap, a lawyer, filed, which sought the summoning of the leaders who allegedly gave fiery speeches on June 6, 1992, the day of the Babri Masjid demolition.

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, during his deposition before the Commission, had blamed the RSS-BJP-VHP combine for the incident. He said the combine and the Bajrang Dal were trying to gain mileage out of the issue.

The Commission, which is scheduled to wind up inquiry by June 30, has summoned Mulayam Singh on June 11 and 12 to record his statement further.

The Commission was set up on June 11, 1993, to probe the circumstances which led to the demolition and the role played by the Kalyan Singh government in it.

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