New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain a plea seeking directions to nominate representatives from the Centre and state government on the “Indo Islamic Cultural Foundation” trust, constituted to build a mosque in Ayodhya.
A bench, headed by Justice R.F. Nariman, after hearing arguments of advocate Hari Shankar Jain, dismissed the plea filed by Shishir Chaturvedi and Karunesh Kumar Shukla.
The plea said that on July 29, the Sunni Waqf Board declared creating a trust under the title of the Indo Islamic Cultural Foundation. This trust would build a mosque, cultural and research centre and public utility facilities, which would also include a library, community kitchen and hospital within 5 acres land allotted to it.
The plea argued said there is no provision for nominating any officer of the government and it is expected that hundreds of persons shall visit at the site of Islamic trust and it will get contributions within India and also from foreign countries.
“It is in the public interest that the Central government and 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 misutilised or misappropriated”, said the plea.
The plea, filed through advocate Divya Jyoti Singh, sought the top court to issue a direction to the Centre to create a trust consisting of nominees of the Central and state government belonging to Sunni Muslims in the Indo Islamic Cultural Foundation for proper administration of the land and construction of the mosque allotted to UP Sunni Central Waqf Board.
On November 9, last year, the Supreme Court had ruled in favour of Hindu side in the Ayodhya title dispute and paved the way for the construction of a Ram Temple by a trust at the disputed Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid site at Ayodhya. The top court had also directed the Centre to allot an alternative five-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a “prominent” place in the town in Uttar Pradesh.
