After Ayodhya ruling, govt begins process to set up trust

Photo: IANS

New Delhi: The Centre has started the process to set up a trust that will oversee the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, as mandated by the Supreme Court in its ruling on the title suit.

Top officials from the Ministries of Home and Finance will be part of deciding on the constitution of the trust and its rules.

According to sources, the government is studying the apex court judgement on Ayodhya, and a team of bureaucrats is studying the technicalities and nuances of the verdict.

Senior law officers such as Attorney General K.K. Venugopal would be consulted on the issue, the sources added.




“The opinions of the Law Ministry and the Attorney General will be taken on how to set up the trust,” a senior officer said.

In its landmark ruling on Saturday, the five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had unanimously ruled that the disputed 2.77 acres of land would be awarded to the deity Ram Lalla for building a temple.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, gave the government three months to set up a trust for the same. The Muslim side was given a 5-acre plot at a “prominent site” for building a mosque.

“The Central Government shall, within a period of three months from the date of this judgment, formulate a scheme pursuant to the powers vested in it under Sections 6 and 7 of the Acquisition of Certain Area at Ayodhya Act 1993. The scheme shall envisage the setting up of a trust with a Board of Trustees or any other appropriate body under Section 6.




“The scheme to be framed by the Central Government shall make necessary provisions in regard to the functioning of the trust or body including on matters relating to the management of the trust, the powers of the trustees including the construction of a temple and all necessary, incidental and supplemental matters,” the top court ruling said.

The Sunni Waqf Board, one of the litigants in the Ayodhya title dispute case, has said that a final decision on accepting the offer of the plot will be taken later.

According to sources, a team of bureaucrats of the Ministry of Home Affairs is studying the 1,045-page SC judgment.

IANS