SC seeks status report on probe into alleged embezzlement of Ram temple donations

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to file a status report on the investigation into the alleged embezzlement of donations made to the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Bar and Bench reported.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant also issued notice to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on petitions seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the alleged financial irregularities. The trust manages the temple.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government, said that a Special Investigation Team had been constituted and that the probe was underway, with arrests having been made. He offered to submit a status report in a sealed cover.

The bench accepted the request and directed the state to file the report by July 20, The Hindu reported. It also asked the government to include details of the composition of the probe team.

The three-member SIT was formed on June 13 at the request of the temple trust after Opposition leaders and a whistleblower raised questions about how donations were being handled at the temple. It is expected to submit its final report on July 22.

In its preliminary report, submitted to the Uttar Pradesh home department on June 23, the SIT found 70 instances of counting staff hiding bundles of notes and loose cash in their clothes, pockets and shoes. Scroll has seen a copy of the report.

The report alleged that offerings were stolen during the counting process with staff routinely hiding cash on their bodies and walking out with it, as systems meant to stop this were not enforced. It also flagged serious lapses by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and the State Bank of India, the banker to the trust.

The report held trustee Anil Mishra, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader, responsible for the dilution of security protocols in the counting room but did not recommend any action against him.

While it did not name Champat Rai, the trust’s general secretary, one of his aides was among the eight staffers it recommended the police investigate. The eight persons were also named in a first information report registered on June 25.

Mishra and Rai have resigned from their positions in the trust.

Ram temple trust invites applications for CEO

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on Monday invited applications for the post of chief executive officer.

The chief executive officer will report to the trust’s general secretary. The trust has appointed retired Indian Forest Service officer Krishna Mohan as its interim general secretary, after Rai resigned from the post.

The applicants must be practising Hindus. Being a devotee of the deity Ram and belonging to the Vaishnava tradition is listed as a “desirable” qualification.

The candidates must be graduates from a recognised university and have at least 20 years of experience in administration or finance, among other criteria.

The shortlisted candidates will be interviewed by a three-member search committee comprising retired Supreme Court judge Pramod Kohli, retired Lieutenant General Vishnukant Chaturvedi and former National Institute of Technology Raipur Chairperson Suresh Haware, PTI reported.

The selection process is expected to be completed within a month of the July 18 application deadline.

Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.

Also read:

• What the SIT report on Ram temple donation theft does and does not say
• In Ayodhya, it’s Sangh Parivar vs Sangh Parivar as Ram temple fund ‘theft’ charges blow up