Plea in SC seeks appointment of govt nominee to Ayodhya mosque trust

A plea has been moved in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to appoint a government nominee to the Ayodhya mosque trust, which was set up for the construction of the mosque.

The plea has been filed by one of the advocates on the Hindu side in the Ayodhya title dispute through advocate Vishnu Jain.

The top court exercising powers under Article 142 of the Constitution allotted five acres of land to the Sunni Central Waqf Board. The Uttar Pradesh government in compliance with the apex court verdict allotted 5-acre land to the Waqf Board.

The Waqf Board on July 29 announced creating a trust named 'Indo Islamic Cultural Foundation', which proposed to build a mosque, cultural and research centre and public utility facilities that will include a community kitchen, a hospital and a library on the allotted land.

"There is no provision for nominating any officer of the government like the trust created by the Central government. It is expected that hundreds of persons will visit the site of the 'Islamic Trust' and it will get contributions from within India and also from foreign countries", said the plea.

The petitioners argued that it is desired that there should be peace and tranquillity in Ayodhya and there should be proper management of the funds and the property vested in the Islamic Trust. "It is in the public interest that the Central Government and the State Government may have all relevant information about the working of the trust to maintain public order and to ensure that no malpractices take place and the funds are not mis-utilised or misappropriated by any trust", said the plea.

The petitioners contended that it is necessary that the Centre may be directed to create a trust, which includes provision for nomination of the officers of the government in the same manner that a provision has been made in the Ayodhya Teerth Kshetra Trust created by the Centre via an order on February 5.

--IANS

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