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Kalyan fails to appear before Liberhan panel: PTI

Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh on Friday failed to appear before the Justice M S Liberhan Commission, probing events leading to the demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya in December 1992 despite a bailable warrant being issued against him.

Singh's counsel B B Saxena submitted a medical certificate before the commission, claiming that he was suffering from viral fever and, therefore, was unable to appear before it.

The commission deferred the hearing till September 4 and said it would consider examining all other witnesses, including Union Home Minister L K Advani and former Faizabad senior superintendent of police D P Roy only after Kalyan Singh, a star witness before the commission, was examined.

Singh on Thursday moved the Delhi high court seeking quashing of the warrant issued by the commission as the panel had no power to summon him as a witness as he was facing trial in a criminal case in Uttar Pradesh relating to the demolition of the disputed structure on December 6,1992. The matter was listed before the high court for hearing on Friday.

"Issuance of notices to call upon the petitioner (Singh) and others before the commission as witnesses would mean that they were being subjected to cross examination," the petition filed in the high court said.

The commission had on July 27 issued the bailable warrant against Singh after he failed to appear before it despite repeated summons.

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