Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national spokesperson Sanjay Singh, during a recent press conference (Archived Link), accused Prime Minister Modi of showing disrespect towards Sanatan Dharma. While making these allegations, Singh cited specific instances to demonstrate that the BJP does not hold Hindu religion in high regard. He made allegations of corruption related to land acquisition for the Ram temple premises in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. According to Singh, the BJP purchased land originally valued at Rs 2 crore for a price of Rs 18.5 crore.
Fact Check
In our research conducted, the Only Fact found that in the year 2021, leaders affiliated with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) raised allegations that the Ram Mandir Trust had acquired land for the construction of the Ram Temple at an apparent cost of Rs. 18 crore. This was in stark contrast to its earlier assessed value of a mere Rs. 2 crore.
The Ram Mandir Trust, in light of corruption allegations put forth regarding the acquisition of temple land at an inflated price, has released an official statement.
According to the official statement the details of the agreements pertaining to the land are as follows:
I. On March 4, 2011, Mehfooz Alam, Javed Alam, Noor Alam, and Firoz Alam, residents of Barwari Tola in Ayodhya, entered into an agreement with Kusum Pathak, Harish Pathak, and Mohd Irfan (known as Nanhe Miyan) for the sale of land, specifically gata numbers 242, 243, 244, and 246. The agreed-upon consideration amount was Rs. 1 crore, and the agreement had a validity period of 3 years. This agreement, dated March 4, 2011, was canceled on March 4, 2014.
II. On November 20, 2017, Mehfooz Alam and the three aforementioned parties executed a registered sale deed transferring the same four gata numbers, totaling 2.334 hectares of land, to Kusum Pathak and her husband Harish Pathak. The consideration amount for this transaction was Rs. 2 crores.
III. On November 21, 2017, Kusum Pathak and Harish Pathak entered into an agreement to sell the same four gatas to Ichchha Ram Singh, Jitendra Kumar Singh, and Rakesh Kumar Singh. The consideration amount stipulated in this agreement was Rs. 2.16 crores. However, this agreement was subsequently canceled on September 17, 2019.
IV. On September 17, 2019, Kusum Pathak and Harish Pathak entered into another agreement to sell the aforementioned land to Ichchha Ram Singh, Vishwa Pratap Upadhyay, Manish Kumar, Subedar, Balram Yadav, Ravindra Kumar Dubey, Sultan Ansari, and Rashid Hussain. The consideration amount for this transaction was Rs. 2 crores, and the agreement had a validity period of 3 years. It was later registered for cancellation on March 18, 2021.
V. On 18/03/2021 Kusum Pathak and Harish Pathak sold land gata number 243, 244 and 246 area 1.2080 hectares by sale deed to Ravi Mohan Tiwari and Sultan Ansari S/o Irfan (urf Nanhe Miyan). Consideration amount was Rs. 2 crores. The value of the land was 5 crore.
VI. On that very day, Ravi Mohan Tiwari and Sultan Ansari reached an agreement to sell this particular land to RJB Trust. The agreed-upon consideration amount for this transaction was Rs. 18.50 crores. An advance payment of Rs. 17 crores was completed through online means.
Why the land was purchased for 18.50 crore?
The land in was originally owned by Kusum. In 2019, Kusum entered into an agreement with Ansari to sell the land for Rs. 2 crore. It’s worth noting that the land’s assessed value was Rs. 5.79 crore as of August 1, 2017. However, due to an ongoing land dispute at the time, Kusum Pathak likely agreed to sell the land for a reduced amount of Rs. 2 crore.
The agreement between Kusum Pathak and Sultan Ansari for the sale of this land at Rs. 2 crore had a stipulated tenure of 3 years. Up until 2021, the final transcation had not occurred, and Ansari had not yet made the remaining payment of Rs. 1.5 crore to complete the transaction. It’s important to note that the Supreme Court’s verdict, which was issued after the initial sale agreement, resulted in a significant increase in land prices throughout Ayodhya.
Furthermore, Champat Rai clarified that the escalation in land value was not a sudden occurrence but rather, as per legal requirements, the mutually agreed rate for the land had been established between the sellers two years prior, before the Ayodhya judgment. The actual sale transaction took place in 2021. On March 18, 2021, all three parties involved successfully executed two separate transactions, both conducted transparently and through online means. These transactions highlighted a two-year gap and the notable difference in land values before and after the Supreme Court’s judgment.
Therefore, considering the aforementioned facts, the claims made by Sanjay Singh appear to be misleading. There is no evidence of corruption involved in the acquisition of land for the construction of the Ram Temple.
Furthermore, it’s important to clarify that the purchase of land for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, was conducted by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, an independent entity responsible for overseeing the temple’s construction. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India has expressed support for the temple’s construction, the actual process of land acquisition was not carried out by the BJP as a political party. Instead, this responsibility was delegated to the trust and its affiliated organizations to manage the land acquisition and oversee the temple’s construction.
| Claim | BJP purchased Ayodhya land originally valued at Rs 2 crore for a price of Rs 18.5 crore |
| Claimed | Sanjay Singh |
| Fact Check | Misleading |
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