Harvard- educated BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the Center does not need the permission of Supreme Court for allocating the land in Ayodhya for constructing Ram Temple. In his argument, the senior BJP leader has said that the Narasimha Rao government nationalized the entire land during its tenure.
It includes both disputed and undisputed land in Ayodhya and hence the Supreme Court’s concerns should be restricted only about the compensation. In January this year, the Modi government made an application in the Supreme Court to allow the government to return the 67-acre surplus land that is around the disputed area to its original owner Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas which has been formed to construct Ramlala temple.
Center Should Assure SC About Paying Just Compensation
In the letter, Swamy writes, “As per the amendments in 1993 and in 1994, a Constitution Bench of the SC upheld the nationalization as valid. Thereafter all the parties except the Ramjanmabhumi Nyas Samiti accepted the compensation paid by the government for the land nationalization.”
He further says the way he understands the law, the Center government does not require any permission from any authority including SC for allocating the land in the interest of the public. According to Swamy the Center should only see to it that it pays just compensation to the title holder as determined by the SC.
In a letter to PM I have informed that that his legal advice that Govt needs SC permission is erroneous. Narasimha Rao Govt had nationalised the land and under Article 300A the SC cannot question only compensation. Hence there is no bar for Govt to start building right away.
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) June 2, 2019
He further added, “In fact, as a generosity both the parties can be paid compensation if they withdraw their respective appeals in SC before adjudication.”
Swamy Demands Declaration Of Ram Setu As Heritage Monument
The BJP leader has also demanded in his letter to the PM to declare Ram Setu as a national heritage monument under the 1958 Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act. The letter from Swamy is all the more significant in the context of the decision of the apex court to extend the tenure of the mediation committee on the dispute of Ayodhya until August 15.
The court has refused to divulge the details on the mediation efforts and has said that the committee members are not experiencing any sort of difficulty during the mediation process.
FMI Kalifulla, who is the former Supreme Court judge and also the chairman of the committee recently stated that although the committee has made progress in mediation, they still need more time to complete the task.
