Ayodhya Ram Temple Donation Case: SIT Gives Clean Chit To Former Trust Secretary Champat Rai

The SIT probing the alleged theft of donations at the Ayodhya Ram Temple cleared the Trust’s former general secretary, Champat Rai, of wrongdoing in its initial report, as per media reports. The Uttar Pradesh Home Department handed over the Special Investigation Team's final report in the Ayodhya Ram temple donation theft case to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to take further action, PTI reported on Monday.

The three-member SIT, headed by Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, was constituted by the state government on June 13 at the request of the Trust, before the Supreme Court intervened in the matter. Range Inspector General Kiran S and Special Secretary (Finance) Neel Ratan Kumar are the other members.

What Did The SIT Find In Ram Temple Donation Case?

The panel had submitted its preliminary report to the state government on June 23, making several stringent recommendations. Based on the preliminary report, Trust member Krishnamohan filed a written complaint at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi police station, following which an FIR was registered in the case on June 25.

The FIR named eight people -- Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu -- and other unidentified individuals as accused.

The accused were booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The preliminary report had also formed the basis for subsequent FIR and arrest-related action in the case.

What Happened After Ram Temple Donation Theft Allegations?

The Supreme Court on Monday asked a court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya to complete its investigation expeditiously and take it to a logical conclusion.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana also directed the SIT to file a status report in a sealed cover on the progress made in the investigation.

“The SIT, which includes a forensic auditor, will submit its status report to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover. The report will be first perused by us and seen if we have to release it to all the parties,” it said, as quoted by PTI.

The bench also asked the SIT to consider objectively any suggestions made by the different litigants before the court for qualitative improvement of the investigation and its transparency. It permitted the petitioners seeking a court-monitored investigation by an independent agency or the CBI, and other public-spirited persons to submit suggestions to the office of the Solicitor General on any aspect that should be probed by the SIT in connection with the allegations of donations theft.

On July 27, the top court took note of the setting up of the four-member SIT headed by IGP Kiran S to probe the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple. It had asked the Uttar Pradesh government to also include a forensic auditor in the probe team.