Government duty-bound to set up trust within 3 months to construct Ram temple in Ayodhya

The Centre is duty-bound to set up a new trust for the development of Ayodhya and construction of a Ram temple within three months as per the directive of the Supreme Court, Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

In a written reply to a question, he said, the November 9 Supreme Court judgment in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid matter included formulation of a scheme by the Centre with necessary provisions for the setting up of a trust with a board of trustees or any other appropriate body, the functioning of the trust, the powers of the trustees, transfer of land to the trust and all necessary, incidental and supplemental matters.

"Central government is duty bound to act as per the directions and orders of the Hon'ble Court, within the stipulated time-frame," Reddy said.

Settling a fractious issue that goes back more than a century, the Supreme Court, in a historic verdict on November 9, backed the construction of a Ram temple by a government trust at the disputed site in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya and ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for a mosque in the Hindu holy town.

The apex court said the mosque should be constructed at a "prominent site" and a trust should be formed within three months for the construction of the temple at the site where many Hindus believe Lord Ram was born.