NEW DELHI, June 15: Amid charges of irregularities in the purchase of a piece of land for the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Shriram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, responsible for developing the entire infrastructure, has refuted the allegations claiming that the entire deal was carried out in a “transparent manner.”
The Trust on Tuesday issued a statement on the purchase deal and the details of the agreement.
In its statement, the Trust said nine individuals were involved in the deal and negotiations were done with their consent to complete the agreement in a transparent manner. It added that the Trust had decided that all financial dealings would be conducted through banking channels and dealings are “on record.”
“Nyas was interested to purchase this land but first wanted to finalise all the previous agreements so that ownership of the land may be cleared. About 9 individuals were involved in this deal from last 10 years, in these 9 persons 3 are Muslims…All the 9 persons were contacted, negotiated. On receiving their consent, they all came and sat together to decide their previous agreements,” the statement said, adding that the agreement with the final owners of the land was done in a “transparent manner.”
The Trust further said it had already purchased 3-4 plots including temples and ashrams, adding that for each purchased temple/ashram/private property, “a piece of land of their own choice to be provided for rehabilitation and sufficient funds to be given for constructing their buildings.”
Outlining the detailed history of agreements on the land deal, the Trust stated that on March 18, Ravi Mohan Tiwari and Sultan Ansari had bought the land registered with numbers 243, 244 and 246 by a sale deed for an amount of Rs 2 crore, with “valuation at circle rate Rs 5.80 crores and stamp for Rs 5.80 crores Valuation.” The statement added that Tiwari and Ansari entered into an agreement on the same day to sell this land to the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust. “Consideration amount agreed was Rs. 18.50 crores. Payment of Rs. 17 crores was made as advance by online transaction,” it further stated.
The temple Trust has also said the land was situated at a “prime” location and the price at which it was bought was “much less than the actual market rate in Ayodhya.”
The statement followed by allegations by some non-BJP political parties that the Trust general secretary Champat Rai had bought the piece of land at an inflated price.
The Aam Aadmi Party in-charge for Uttar Pradesh Sanjay Singh, MP, and the Samajwadi Party leader Pawan Pandey had on Sunday released some “official documents” claiming that the piece of land “purchased” by two joint owners at Rs two crores was sold to the Trust just five minutes later at Rs 18.50 crores. “The piece of land in Ayodhya is registered with number 243, 244 and 246. Its value is Rs 5.80 crore. It was purchased from Kusum Pathak and Harish Pathak by Sultan Ansari and Ravi Mohan Tiwari for Rs 2 crore. The purchase had two witnesses — Anil Mishra, a member of the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, and Rishikesh Upadhyay, who is the Mayor of Ayodhya. It was purchased at 7.10 pm. In the next five minutes, the same land was bought by Ram Janmabhoomi Trust and Champat Rai for Rs 18.5 crore from Ansari and Tiwari. Rs 17 crore was transferred through RTGS,” they had alleged.
The temple Trust had earlier released a statement, signed by Champat Rai, claiming that all the sale and purchase is done by proper communication and agreement, and signatures are taken on agreement papers. “All the court fees and stamp paper purchase is done online and the amount is transferred into the bank account of the seller through online transaction,” it said.
The Trust had also said propaganda by political people on the issue was misleading.
(Manas Dasgupta)