30 Jun 2009, 2226 hrs IST

NEW DELHI, India: The Congress today thanked Justice (retd) MS Liberhan for his probe report on the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition while the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticized the commission for taking 17 years to submit the report.

The Liberhan Commission submitted its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier in the day in the presence of Home Minister P.Chidambaram. The contents of the report were not yet known.

"We must thank Justice Liberhan for the voluminous work that he has done," said Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari.

BJP president Rajnath Singh refused to comment on the report but said: "It would have been better if the commission would not have taken 17 years on such a sensitive issue".

"I don't know the contents of the report, so I cannot comment," Singh said.Senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi refused to comment.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) also reserved its comment. "Without knowing the contents, I cannot say anything," CPI-M central secretariat member Mohammad Salim told IANS.

The Liberhan Commission got 48 extensions after it was set up within 10 days of the demolition of the 16th century mosque in Ayodhya on Dec 6, 1992, by Hindu groups. The demolition triggered widespread communal riots in the country and led to the loss of many lives.

The panel to investigate what led to the demolition of the Babri mosque was to submit its report by March 16, 1993. But it sought repeated extensions to complete its investigation. The last three-month extension was given in March this year.

The commission has recorded the statements of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Kalyan Singh and now Bharati Jan Shakti party chief Uma Bharati.

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