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Ayodhya Commission miffed by Kalyan Singh's no-show

The Justice M S Liberhan Commission, probing the events leading to the demolition of the disputed Babri Masjid structure at Ayodhya has taken a serious note of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh's failure to appear before it. On Thursday, it issued fresh summons directing him to present himself for examination on July 27.

The directions were issued after Singh's counsel Braj Bahadur Saksena submitted that the earlier summons for appearing on Thursday could not be served on Singh as he was mostly out of station.

However, Justice Liberhan found it difficult to believe that Singh, who has been issuing press statements, was not aware of the date despite wide media coverage on the summons issued to him. "For reasons best known to him, he has kept himself away from the Commission," Justice Liberhan said.

Directing Singh to appear before it on July 27, Justice Liberhan ordered that the service of the summons should be effected through the counsel by courier, registered post and personal service. He also asked the UP advocate general to ensure through state agencies that the summons were served on Singh.

Singh had on June 22 moved an application before the panel seeking exemption from appearing before it as a writ petition challenging the inquiry was pending before the Allahabad high court. The Commission rejected the plea saying it 'cannot proceed without examining Singh as he was a key figure'.

PTI

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