Bureaucrat who supervised 370 scrapping to head Ayodhya case desk

New Delhi, Jan 3: In an order issued by the Ministry of Home affairs (MHA), the desk dealing with the matters associated with the Ayodhya case, including the formation of a trust within 90 days, will be headed by Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh (JKL) additional secretary Gyanesh Kumar.

Kumar will be assisted by deputy secretary of the national integration (NI) department and joint secretary of the Kashmir division.

“Ayodhya matters and related court judgements will be put up by DS (NI) to AS (JKL) through JS (JKL),” stated an order of the administrative division of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

Kumar had played a crucial role in the transition of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory. He was an active participant in the preparation of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill which then became an Act.

To deal with the claims on the disputed site, the government created the Ayodhya cell under the MHA in 1990. This cell functioned under the the internal security division of the MHA which oversaw the NI department and continued to do so even after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992.

It is currently tasked with allotting Muslim claimants the five acres of land as compensation under the Acquisition of Certain Area at Ayodhya Act, 1993.

The government has also merged the two internal security divisions of the home ministry, the Internal Security-I division and Internal Security-II division, to be known as Internal Security-I division and headed by joint secretary of women’s safety, Punya Salila Srivastava.

As per the reports, in a proposal to the MHA, the Uttar Pradesh government has suggested three plots in Ayodhya, one of which could be given to the UP Sunni Waqf Board.

The representatives of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) had first met under the banner of the Ayodhya Cell. (Agencies)