Triloki Nath Pandey, “next friend” of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya title suit, dies

Triloki Nath Pandey, 77, died at Lucknow’s Ram Manohar Lohia hospital on Friday. Pandey, who lived in Ayodhya, played a prominent role in the title suit right from Faizabad district court up to the Supreme Court.

Lucknow: Triloki Nath Pandey, 77, who was the next best friend of Ram Lalla in the Ram Janmabhoomi- Babri Masjid title dispute case, died at Ram Manohar Lohia hospital in Lucknow on Friday evening due to prolonged illness.

Triloki Nath Pandey represented Ram Lalla in the Supreme Court as the deity’s “next friend“ after the death of TP Varma in February 2008. He lived in Ayodhya. (ANI)

Pandey played a prominent role in the title suit right from Faizabad district court up to the Supreme Court.

The top court on November 9, 2019, decided the case in favour of Ram temple.

Pandey, who originally belonged to Ballia district, joined the RSS in 1964. He was appointed the district pracharak of Ballia in 1975 and came to Ayodhya in 1983. Since then, he lived in Ayodhya.

Devki Nandan Agarwal, late judge of the Allahabad high court, filed a petition in the Faizabad district court on July 1, 1989, in connection with the Ayodhya dispute, on behalf of Ram Lalla Virajman (the deity).

After his death, TP Varma took over the case. In February 2008, after Varma’s death, Pandey took over.

Champat Rai, general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and vice president of VHP, condoled the death.

“Triloki Nath Pandey died at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Lucknow today in the evening due to nerve-related problem. He played a prominent role in the Ram Mandir movement and the prolonged legal battle associated with the case,” Rai said on Friday.

Saints of Ayodhya have also expressed grief over Pandey’s death.