Central Government Ready To Give Sant Ravidas Temple Site To Devotees For Reconstruction: Attorney General Tells SC

The Centre on Friday (18 October) informed the Supreme Court that it proposes to give to devotees of Guru Ravidas the site, where a temple was demolished few months back, for ensuring peace and harmony.

Attorney General KK Venugopal told a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra that 200 square metre area of the site can be handed over to a committee of the devotees for construction of the temple.

The bench took the Centre's proposal on record and listed the case for Monday (21 October) for further hearing.

The Attorney General told the court that the Centre has agreed to give the land to devotees considering the sensitivity of the matter after holding a consultation with all concerned parties, including the devotees and government officials.

He also told the court that two out of seven petitioners, who had approached the court against demolition of the temple, had not agreed to the government proposal.

Following the top court order, the temple was demolished by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on 10 August.

The court was hearing pleas, including that of former Haryana Congress unit chief Ashok Tanwar, seeking reconstruction of Guru Ravidas Temple in the protected land of Tughlaqabad forest area.

On 4 October, the Supreme Court had asked all the parties to hold consultation with the Attorney General and to come out with a solution amicably.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)