After strong protests from the BJP, the Parliamentary panel examining the nuclear liability bill today decided to seek an extension for submitting its report on the controversial legislation.

The decision to seek an extension came after top BJP leaders including L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, had a meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee here.

"The committee cannot hustle through the proceedings," BJP leader Jaswant Singh told reporters after the meeting with Mukherjee.

T Subbirami Reddy, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and is understood to have discussed the progress made by the panel on the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2010.

Singh is understood to have asked Reddy to sort out the issues with the BJP and submit its report.

The Committee postponed its meeting scheduled for today to Monday. It is now expected to submit its report to Parliament on August 18.