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Updated: Nov 12, 2019 05:48 IST

The Union government has set the ball rolling to form a trust for the construction of the temple at Ayodhya as instructed by the Supreme Court, said a senior official who did not want to be named.

In a historic and unanimous verdict on Saturday, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. The bench also directed the Centre to allot a five-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a mosque.

The court, in its order, asked the central government to set up, within three months, a trust that will oversee the construction of the temple.

“The judgment is being studied by government law officers. Opinions of the ministry of law and the attorney general will be taken on how to proceed on setting up the trust that will fix the modalities for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya,” the official said.

Additionally, a team of officials is studying the order for its technicalities and nuances so that the trust can be constituted exactly as per the Supreme Court verdict, the official said.

In Uttar Pradesh, Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas (RJN) head Mahant Nritya Gopal Das said the body wanted chief minister Yogi Adityanath to head the trust.

“Chief minister Yogi Adityanath could head the trust in his capacity as mahant of the Gorakhnath temple, and not as the CM,” he said.

Besides being the chief minister, Adityanath is also mahant (head priest) of the prestigious Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur and heads the Goraksha Peeth, which has played a prominent role in the Ram temple movement.

Mahant Avaidyanath, the mentor of Adityanath, was closely associated with the temple movement.

In its Saturday ruling, the apex court dismissed the petition the Nyas, a trust came into existence in 1985, but Das said after the ruling that he was happy about that order that paved the way for a Ram temple on the disputed 2.77-acre plot in Ayodhya.

On Monday, Adityanath was also congratulated by members of the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet. In the first Cabinet meeting held after the apex court verdict on the centuries-old dispute, the legislators also thanked the people of the state for helping in maintaining peace and order.

Monday’s Cabinet meeting, presided over by the CM, approved 13 issues, including the opening of the Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh University in Aligarh.

AIMPLB KEY MEET ON SUNDAY

A lead counsel for the Muslim parties in the Ayodhya case has said the decision on seeking a review of the verdict would likely be taken in a meeting of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Sunday.

“The decision whether to seek review of the verdict will be taken on November 17 in the meeting of the AIMPLB,” senior advocate Zafaryab Jilani told PTI on Monday.

Jilani was responding to a question whether the Muslim parties were contemplating to seek a review of the verdict in view of the dissatisfaction in certain sections of the community.

The senior advocate had represented the Muslim parties, including the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board, in the case in trial court, Allahabad high court and the Supreme Court.

(With agency inputs)