New Delhi: Over two months after the Guru Ravidas temple in Delhi’s Tughlaqabad forest area was demolished by the DDA following the apex court’s order, the Supreme Court, on Monday, accepted the Centre’s revised offer of 400 square metre land at the site for re-construction of the temple.
A bench of justices Arun Mishra and S. Ravindra Bhat was, on Monday, told by attorney general K.K. Venugopal that the Centre has revised its offer from 200 square metre area for the temple to 400 square metre keeping in view the faith and sentiments of the devotees.
When the court asked Mr Venugopal as to who would manage the construction of the temple, the attorney general said that the Centre would constitute a committee for this.
The apex court directed the Centre to constitute, within six weeks, the committee for construction of the temple in the area earmarked. It also made it clear that nobody would carry out any commercial activity in the area in and around the place earmarked for the temple.
The top court also directed that persons who were arrested during agitations following the demolition of the temple be released on furnishing of personal bond.
The Supreme Court had said it respects everybody’s sentiments but that the law has to be followed. It had earlier questioned the maintainability of a petition asking as to how it could entertain the petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution seeking permission to construct a temple demolished on its orders.
The petition, filed by two former members of Parliament Ashok Tanwar and Pradeep Jain Aditya, had sought the enforcement of their right to worship, which they alleged “was being denied to them due to the demolition” of the temple and the ‘samadhi’ in Tughlaqabad.
The DDA had demolished the temple pursuant to the orders of the apex court, which had, on August 9, observed that “serious breach” had been committed by the Guru Ravidas Jayanti Samaroh Samiti by not vacating the forest area as ordered earlier by the top court.
The temple’s demolition had led to a series of protests in places such as Delhi, Punjab, and Haryana and the apex court had, on August 19, directed the authorities in these areas to ensure that no law and order situation was created politically or otherwise.
