Nirmohi Akara, one of the litigants in the Ayodhya title suit case, has approached the Supreme Court seeking directions to implement the 2019 ruling requiring the Center to assign them an “adequate” role and representation in temple management.
Approaching the court after a gap of about seven years, Shri Panch Ramanandi Nirmohi Akhara through the Mahant filed an application in the disposed of suit seeking a direction to the Center to reconstitute the Shri Ramjanmabhoomi Tirth Kshetra Trust as a public trust and restore the original deities in place of the newly consecrated deities to the temple precincts.
The application filed on Saturday comes at a time when the trust management has been rocked by controversy after donations worth crores of rupees were misappropriated from the temple fund by people involved in collecting and counting the money.
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“Despite the ruling of this court, the petitioner was not afforded his right either in the form of representation in the subsequent fund or his role – i.e. interest in the religious responsibilities of the deity. It was never intended that the observation be watered down or completely bypassed,” the petition said.
A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court on November 9, 2019 ruled in the ownership suit of the historic Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Mosque in favor of the Hindu side and recognized the historical presence of Nirmohi Akhara at the disputed site. With regard to the akhara, the court used its power under Article 142 of the Constitution to direct the Center that while drawing up a scheme for the administration of the temple, “appropriate representation in the trust or body, may be given to the Nirmohi akhara in such manner as the Central Government may think fit.”
In her application filed through advocate Pratibha Jain, Akhara said the central government has failed to follow this trend and has formed a “special fund” that has no accountability. Referring to the recent allegations surrounding the fund and its members, he said: “With no recourse under any legal frameworks to regulate the activities of the private fund, or the Prevention of Corruption Act, there is no option but to approach this court for appropriate directions.”
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She said the recent events have “inflicted deep pain” on Akara Panchayat as they have tarnished the image and grandeur of the place which is highly revered by devotees across India and abroad. “The trustees thus chosen instead of protecting the deity and its properties either actively or passively through negligence became or allowed others to become predators for their own gain.”
He further stated that “the Fund, as currently constituted, has thus become a private body exercising unfettered and unaccountable authority over what is essentially a public religious endowment dedicated to a deity.”
