Liberhan report: Cabinet to meet at Sonia's residence today
November 24, 2009 02:07 IST
The government is all set to take the bull by the horn on the Liberhan commission report on the Babri Masjid demolition.
Unwilling to wait for the return of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has decided that the Union cabinet would meet on Tuesday morning at 9.30 am at her residence.
During the meeting, Home Minister P Chidambaram would bring in the Action Taken Report for approval before it is laid on the table of the House along with the Liberhan commission report. Pranab Mukherjee will chair the Cabinet meet in Dr Singh's absence.
Sources said that the cabinet is likely to take a call on whether the Liberhan commission report detailing the demolition of the Babri Masjid along with the ATR should be immediately tabled in Parliament or whether the Home Minister would give the parliament a date on which he would table both the report and the ATR.
Sources said that while agenda papers for the cabinet meeting have not been circulated so far, it is understood that the sudden decision to call the cabinet meeting centres around the leakage of the Liberhan commission report and the fact that the opposition did not allow the Parliament to run on Monday.
The Opposition protested against the leakage of the report in which BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi have been indicted for the 'planned' demolition of the Babri Masjid along with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Bajrang Dal and others.
Sources said that Liberhan commission report, which is in 17 volumes and 1000 pages, is yet to be translated in Hindi and it is now likely that it would be tabled without the Hindi translation except for the executive summary, which would also be in Hindi.
Chidambaram, himself a qualified lawyer, is said to have been drafting the ATR himself. However, there has been speculation that some others may have also had access to it despite the fact that there is only one copy of the report, which is apparently guarded zealously by the Home minister.
It is learnt that the Home minister has ordered an inquiry by the Intelligence Bureau and the ministry to find out who leaked the report to the media.
Since both Chidambaram and Justice Liberhan are denying that they leaked the report, there is also speculation that the lawyer, who was assisting Liberhan in drafting the report, may have leaked it. However, till late Monday evening this could not be confirmed.
Renu Mittal in New Delhi
