A day after The Indian Express published a report, Anuj Jha, who was the DM of Ayodhya from February 21, 2019 to October 23, 2021, has issued a statement refuting the Ayodhya illegal land deal accusation meted out at him and has slammed the media for dragging his name into the controversy.
The now Director at Panchayati Raj has posted his statement on his official Twitter handle, slamming the media for running false/misleading reports about him as a beneficiary in the land sale by Maharshi Ramayan Vidyapeeth Trust in District.
Some news channels/media have run false/misleading reports about me as a beneficiary in land sale by Maharshi Ramayan Vidyapeeth Trust in District Ayodhya. My statement in this regard.@aajtak @abplivenews @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/FhpnxtBhdn
— Anuj Kr Jha (@anujias09) December 24, 2021
Jha clarified that neither he nor his father has purchased land from the MRV Trust nor does he have any relationship with any of the Trust’s land purchasers. He added that his father had purchased 320 square meters of land at a different place in Ayodhya for residential purposes from a person who is not related to MRV Trust and the land didn’t belong to any person of scheduled castes. All rules have been duly followed in this transaction.
“My father has not sold this land to any trust or person, nor this land has been taken for any government work. So there’s no question of any undue advantage being taken from this land,” read Ajit Jha’s statement.
The former DM of Ayodhya confirmed that the issue has nothing to do with the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust. He added that during his tenure, he received a complaint against the MRV Trust over the alleged illegal transfer of land belonging to a scheduled caste person to their name in 1996. The incident was investigated, and he took action to cancel the land transfer and vest it in the state government. The relevant court was notified of the request to cancel the transfer. According to Jha, all of the actions expected from the District Administration in this situation were taken without any benefit to the MRV Trust.
Jha concluded his statement by urging the media outlet to retract the false article and offer his family an explanation. “I demand from these channels/media, who have published/aired such false/misleading reports without understanding my version, that they should immediately retract these maligning reporting against me and my family and issue a clarification in this regard.”
It may be noted that a report published by The Indian Express had claimed that after the Supreme Court’s verdict, some officials, MLAs, ministers, and relatives of the government officials purchased land in Ayodhya within a 5-km radius of the Ram Mandir site. The report said that at least 15 buyers of land around the Ram Mandir site included MLAs, bureaucrats who have or are serving in Ayodhya, and local revenue officials, or their close relatives.
These officials are either serving or had served in Ayodhya and their job was to authenticate land transactions. They were aware that in the future land will be acquired for the construction of the Ram Mandir at a high acquisition rate. Besides, acquired land will have a high commercial value also.
All the plots were purchased from Mahesh Yogi-founded Maharshi Ramayan Vidyapeeth Trust (MRVT). MRVT had purchased large tracts of land in the Barhata Manjha village and some other villages surrounding Ayodhya, within 5 km of the Ram mandir site in the 1990s, read the media report.
The report named Anuj Jha as one of the 15 beneficiaries in the illegal land deal in Ayodhya. It read that Anuj Jha was the DM of Ayodhya from February 21, 2019, until October 23, 2021. On May 28, 2020, his father Badri Jha purchased 320.631 square meters of land worth Rs 23.40 Lakh at Mughalpura barely one km from the Ram temple site.
Soon other media houses followed suit. Zee News also accused Anuj Jha of illegally acquiring land within a 1 Km radius of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir during his tenure.
Following the media reports, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has ordered an inquiry into the same. Special Secretary Revenue, Radhey Shyam Mishra is expected to investigate the matter and the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister has ordered to submit the report to the government with relevant documents in the next 5-7 days.
