Lawyer who argued Ayodhya case to seers and VHP leaders: Meet the members of the Ram Mandir trust

The Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust was formed on February 5, 2020, following the Supreme Court’s 2019 judgement that ruled that a trust be formed to oversee the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Since then, the 15 members of the Trust have been at the forefront of the temple’s construction and of the arrangements for the idol consecration ceremony that will be held on Monday.

We take a look at the key members of the Trust, many of whom were associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

Advocate K Parasaran (founder Trustee): A prominent Supreme Court lawyer who also served as a former Attorney General of India, Parasaran was named the first trustee of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust after its approval by the Union Cabinet in February 2020. The senior lawyer successfully argued the Ayodhya title case in the apex court and is credited with winning it. Parasaran started his practice before the Supreme Court in 1958. During the Emergency, he was the Advocate General of Tamil Nadu. In 1980, he was appointed Solicitor General of India.

He had also appeared for the Nair Service Society to defend the ban on the entry of menstruating women in the Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala. However, a five-judge Supreme Court Bench allowed the entry of women into the temple.

Mahant Nritya Gopal Das (president): He is considered one of the foremost figures of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in the 1990s. Das served as the president of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, a trust formed to promote the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, as well as the head of the Shri Krishna Janambhoomi Trust. Das was also among the accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case. A Lucknow court acquitted the accused in September 2020.

Das is also the