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Ayodhya panel summons M M Joshi, Uma Bharati: PTI

Union Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian Uma Bharati were issued summons on Friday by the Liberhan Ayodhya Commission to testify before it as witnesses.

The commission, headed by Justice M S Liberhan, probing the sequence of events leading to demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, said, "Let Dr Joshi and Bharati be summoned for October 9," the next date of hearing.

The commission, however, did not initiate any action regarding appearance of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, who has challenged the summoning order of the commission in the Delhi high court.

Singh has challenged the summoning order of the commission on the ground that his giving evidence before it would be prejudicial to him as he has been facing prosecution relating to demolition in a Central Bureau of Investigation court in Uttar Pradesh.

Singh, who had also challenged his summons as a witness by the commission in 1993 before the Allahabad high court, had recently told the Delhi high court that he would seek a direction from the Supreme Court for transfer of his case from Allahabad high court to the Delhi high court.

All three leaders among over 40 people have been facing trial in a court in Uttar Pradesh for their alleged role in the demolition of the disputed structure.

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