Liberhan report paralyses Rajya Sabha for the day

New Delhi, Nov 23 : The publication in the media of the report of the Liberhan Commission on the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid forced three adjournments of the Rajya Sabha Monday in spite of the government committing to table the report during the ongoing winter session that concludes Dec 21. The third adjournment was for the day.

"The report will be laid during this session," Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Prithviraj Chavan said as agitated opposition MPs stormed the chairman's podium demanding that the report be tabled Monday itself.

The government shied away from the demand to enquire into leakage of the document.

Deputy Chairman K. Rahman Khan adjourned the house for the day shortly after 2 p.m., the third adjournment Monday.

The protests had begun from the time the house convened at 11 a.m. with Chairman Hamid Ansari asking Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) why he had served a notice to suspend question hour when the house had agreed to a "structured discussion" on the Liberhan Commission report during the current session.

"Sir, the issue is different from what you have allowed a discussion on. What has today happened is that pending the tabling of the report, it has appeared in the media," Jaitley began, but Ansari cut him short.

"Why the notice for suspending question hour?" he asked, to which Jaitley replied: "The dignity of the house has been breached. The source of the leakage is indicated in the (newspaper) report that refers to sources in the home ministry."

"Pending a structured debate we need the (Liberhan) report and the action taken report. We also need a discussion on how the report was made available to the media before it was tabled in the house," Jaitley maintained.

"The (Liberhan) report should be tabled and question hour must be suspended. We must enquire as to who leaked the report," he insisted.

Chavan then got up to "strongly deny" that the home ministry had leaked the report, adding: "The government is prepared to make a statement. Whenever you direct, the home minister will come."

"The home minister will make a statement. Let us accept that. 12 o'clock is the time," Ansari ruled, but this did not satisfy the opposition, forcing the chairman to adjourn the house till 12 noon.

When the house reassembled, deputy chairman Khan called for the papers to be laid in the business listed for the day, even as the opposition protests continued. Ironically, in the midst of the din, two opposition members -- Prakash Javadekar of the BJP and Sitaram Yechury of the Communist Party of India-Marxist -- also laid their papers relating to the educational and cultural spheres, respectively.

Chidambaram then reiterated the statement he had made in the Lok Sabha that it was "unfortunate that a newspaper had published what purports to be the contents of the (Liberhan) report", and added: "There is only one copy of the report. It is in my custody. No one has spoken to any journalist. I must be a very foolish man to leak it and embarrass myself."

This, however, did not satisfy the opposition, which demanded that the Liberhan report be submitted well before the adjournment of the winter session to enable a discussion on it. With the protests continuing, Khan adjourned the house till 2 p.m.

When the house assembled again at 2 p.m., Khan asked Petroleum Minister Murli Deora to lay some papers on the table of the House. Opposition MPs were on their feet at once, once again demanding the immediate tabling of the Liberhan Commission report, and creating a din that forced the deputy chairman to adjourn the house for the day.

A report in the Indian Express Monday said the commission has indicted former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as well as senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi for their role in the Babri Masjid demolition.