In line with the Supreme Court judgment to set up a trust for the contruction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the Centre has started the process, with a team of officers from the Ministries of Home, Law and Culture to study the SC order threadbare to ensure that the trust is constituted in three months as per the SC verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case.

The opinion of the Attorney General and the Solicitor General will be taken on how to proceed, said senior officials. The Ministry of Home Affairs or Ministry of Culture will be expected to be the nodal Ministry in creation of the trust, said officials, adding that consultations will also soon start with the Uttar Pradesh Government in this regard.

In a unanimous verdict on Saturday, a five-judge constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi cleared the way for the construction of a Ram temple at the 2.77-acre disputed site in Ayodhya and directed the Centre to allot a five-acre plot at an “alternate but prominent” location to the Sunni Central Waqf Board for building a mosque.

“The Central Government shall within a period of three months from the date of this judgment, formulate a scheme under the Acquisition of Certain Area at Ayodhya Act, 1993. The scheme shall envisage the setting up of a trust with a board of trustees or any other appropriate body... ,” said the judgment.

It is understood that the Centre will task the Uttar Pradesh Government to find the five acre for the construction of the new mosque in consultation with the Sunni Waqf Board. The apex court has directed either the Centre or the State Government to hand over the five acre to the Sunni Waqf Board.