Friday, March 18 2005 15:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh today (Mar 18, 2005) claimed before the Liberhan Commission that an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report has clearly shown that the disputed Babri Masjid was built on the demolished temple, which existed prior to 1528.

In an additional affidavit filed before the Commission, Singh, during whose tenure the disputed structure was demolished, said that the report was prepared after the excavation carried out by the ASI on the direction of Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court.

To support his claim, he filed the official summary report of the ASI report before the Commission, which is probing the sequence of events leading to the demolition of disputed structure at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

Singh's counsel B B Saxena said that the copies of the report were with the Uttar Pradesh Government and the Centre and the Commission could ask them to submit the report before it for perusal.

In the affidavit filed on December 2, 2004, Singh had contended that the temple was demolished from the disputed site in Ayodhya on the instruction of Mughal emperor Babar and the mosque was erected in its place.

It is a historical fact that earlier a grand temple existed at this very place (disputed site) in Ayodhya. It was in the year 1528 that foreign invader Babar ordered his commander Mir Baqi to demolish the temple and erect a mosque in its place at Ayodhya," the former Chief Minister said.

Meanwhile, the summary report placed before the Commission stated that the disputed structure was constructed on the existing building of public usage between 12th and16th centuries AD.

"It was over the top of this construction during the early 16th century that the disputed structure was constructed directly resting over it," the report said.

It said the area below the disputed site remained a place for public use for a long time till the Mughal period when the disputed structure was built, which was confined to limited area and population settled around it, as evidenced by the increase in contemporary archaeological material including pottery.

The ASI claimed that the Ground Penetrating Radar Survey (GPRS) of the disputed site was indicative of remains, which had distinctive features found associated with the temples of north India.

The report said 82 trenches were excavated to verify the anomalies in the report of GPRS and those were confirmed in the form of pillar bases, structures, floors and foundation though no such remains were noticed in some of them at the stipulated depths and spots.