Ayodhya verdict: Govt may not bring a Bill to set up Ram temple trust

The seers submitted a new model of the temple, different from the model kept at Ayodhya’s Karsevakpuram

The Narendra Modi government on Thursday indicated it may not need to bring a legislation to set up a trust to oversee construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, even as seers continued to demand that the existing Ramjanbhoomi Nyas should be entrusted with the task of construction of the proposed temple.

According to a top government official, the Supreme Court’s order last Saturday stated that Section 6 of the Acquisition of Certain Area at the Ayodhya Act 1993 empowers the central government to set up a trust or an authority to whom the land would be handed over. The official, who did not wish to be named, said there is no need for a separate legislation to create the trust, and that an order from the apex court is as good as law and is binding on the legislature as well.

Meanwhile, seers associated with the Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas held a press conference in the national capital, and said they have submitted a memorandum to the government that the Nyas should be given the task of constructing the temple. There is friction between the Vishva Hindu Parishad, which has suggested that a new trust should be set up, and seers associated with the Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas. Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the head of the Nyas, has already demanded that the ‘Nyas’ is the only trust legally eligible for overseeing the construction work….