NEW DELHI, 28 February 2004 — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee may be called to account for his role in the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992. The Liberhan Commission probing the demolition said yesterday it applied to summon Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Kalyan Singh.
Filed by senior advocate O.P. Sharma, the petition states: “The deliberations of the commission and its report thereon cannot be said to be complete and conclusive without the testimony of the said persons before the commission.”
Advani’s deposition before the commission has been concluded. When Kalyan Singh was summoned last year, he appealed to the Delhi High Court and the commission was asked not take coercive steps to force him to appear till the petition was disposed of.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court observed yesterday that in federal offences and those relating to violation of fundamental rights, the union government should come forward to offer protection to the witnesses. Several witnesses have sought protection as they fear that their testimony is likely to place them in danger. The judicial intervention coincided with the second anniversary of the torching of the Sabarmati Express in Godhra, which killed 59 people and sparked the Gujarat riots.
Meanwhile, two people were killed in clashes between Hindus and Muslims late on Thursday in the industrial town of Baroda, triggered by a dispute over the route of a Muslim procession next week, a police officer said.
