New Delhi: Supreme Court lawyer K Parasaran, who had represented the Hindu parties in the Ayodhya title dispute case, will head the newly formed Ram Temple Trust.
The Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra, the trust set up to construct a Ram temple in Ayodhya, will be located at the Delhi residence of Parasaran, the lead counsel for the Hindu parties in the case.
The other members of the Board of Trustees are:
- Jagatguru Shankracharya Jyothishpeethadheeshwar Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati Ji Maharaj, Prayagraj
- Jagatguru Madhavacharya Swami Vishwa Prasannatheerth Ji Maharaj, Pejawar Math, Udupi
- Yugpurush Paramanand Ji Maharaj, Haridwar
- Swami Govinddev Giri Ji Maharaj, Pune
- Shri Vimlendra Mohan Pratap Mishra, Ayodhya
- Dr Anil Mishra, Ayodhya
- Shri Kameshwar Chaupal, Patna (SC member)
- Mahant Dinendra Das, Nirmohi Akhara, Ayodhya
Apart from the above, two "prominent" persons, both practicing Hindus will be nominated by the Board.
One member, a practicing Hindu, will be nominated by the state government and would be a serving member of the Indian Administrative Service.
The Ayodhya District Collector will be the ex-officio trustee. If he/she is not a practicing Hindu, the additional Collector of the District will be given the post.
One prominent person, a practicing Hindu, to be nominated by the Board
The address of the trust was mentioned in the notification issued by the Union Home Ministry on Wednesday.
" ...A Trust by the name ''Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra'' has been registered with its registered office at R-20, Greater Kailash Part -1, New Delhi, 110048," the notification read.
According to the website of Supreme Court Bar Association, this is the residential address of Parasaran, a two-time Attorney General of India.
He was the lead counsel for the Hindu parties in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case in Ayodhya and he successfully argued for possession of the entire disputed land in the Supreme Court in favour of the deity "Ram Lalla Virajman".
During the hearing, the 92-year-old senior lawyer had told the apex court that it must do "full and complete justice" in all matters before it and that his last wish before he died was to finish the case.
An erudite Hindu scholar who often quoted from Hindu scriptures in his arguments, Parasaran was referred to as the ''Pitamaha'' of the India Bar by Supreme Court judge and former chief justice of Madras High Court Sanjay Kishan Kaul for his contribution to the law without compromising with his ''dharma''.
He started practising in the top court in 1958.
During the Emergency, he was the Advocate General of Tamil Nadu and appointed as the Solicitor General of India in 1980. He served as Attorney General of India from 1983 to 1989.
The Vajpayee-led NDA government awarded him the Padma Bhushan and the Manmohan Singh led UPA-1 government awarded him the Padma Vibhushan and also nominated him to the Upper House.
Born in Tamil Nadu''s Srirangam in 1927, Parasaran's father Kesava Aiyengar was a lawyer and Vedic scholar who practised at the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court.
Parasaran's three sons, Mohan, Satish and Balaji, are also lawyers.
(With inputs from PTI)