The Ram Temple Trust on Monday accepted the resignations of Champat Rai as general secretary and Anil Mishra as trustee, removed administrator Gopal Rao, and announced a three-member panel to appoint a chief executive officer (CEO) as it sought to restore its image following swirling allegations of theft in donations.
At a meeting of the trust at the Ram Mandir complex in Ayodhya, the body also hit out at detractors and appointed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh member and trustee Krishna Mohan – who had filed the first information report in the case – as interim general secretary.
“The SIT’s preliminary report identified eight individuals against whom the trust filed cases, leading to arrests. Following the report, general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra resigned on moral grounds, which were accepted by the trust. Additionally, the trust decided to remove Gopal Nagarakatte from the list of special invitee members,” a statement by the trust in Hindi said.
The meeting – which was attended in person by seven members of the trust – and virtually by two others – began around 3.15pm and concluded by 6.30pm. Champat Rai and Anil Mishra didn’t attend the meeting.
“Gopal Rao was not called to the meeting. Champat Rai was also not present in the meeting,” said Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, successor to Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the president of the trust.
{{/usCountry}}“Gopal Rao was not called to the meeting. Champat Rai was also not present in the meeting,” said Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, successor to Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the president of the trust.
{{/usCountry}}The trust also announced the formation of a three-member committee to identify a CEO, comprising Justice (retired) Permod Kohli, retired army lieutenant general Vishnukant Chaturvedi and Suresh Haware.
This is the biggest fallout so far of the allegations of irregularities in donations to the Ram Temple that surfaced last month and have had deep religious and political ramifications, especially in Uttar Pradesh, where assembly elections are expected early next year.
In a press conference, trust treasurer Govind Dev Giri blamed the State Bank of India. The trust’s account is in the Naya Ghat branch of SBI in Ayodhya.
“I must point out that SBI should not have shirked its responsibility in this matter; since the work was carried out in collaboration with SBI, they also bore responsibility, and we have had to suffer the severe consequences of their lack of oversight. In my view, the FIR should actually have been filed by SBI, not by our trust, though the well-intentioned members of our trust went ahead and filed it themselves. The responsibility is truly theirs,” he said.
A senior SBI officer in Lucknow said, “We had issued a written statement on June 28 that said we cooperated with SIT fully in investigations. We remain committed to extending complete cooperation.
“We will adopt a process that leaves absolutely no room for doubt. We will take appropriate measures, seek guidance from all concerned, and fully restore the reputation of the Ram Mandir, which has been tarnished,” he added.
Giri described the theft from the temple’s donation boxes as a matter of “deep pain and embarrassment” for the trust, saying the controversy had cast a shadow over a temple built after a centuries-long struggle and countless sacrifices.
The treasurer, however, said the trust unanimously appreciated Rai’s contribution to the Ram temple movement and construction despite accepting his resignation.
Defending Rai, Giri said he “is untainted in my eyes” and hailed his “life of sacr- ifice” for the Ram temple movement, while suggesting that his only mistake may have been placing trust in the wrong people.
Govind Dev Giri said Rai had stepped down voluntarily, saying he felt it was not appropriate to continue as general secretary until the investigation was completed and those responsible were brought to justice.
He said the trust had no discretion in the matter as senior trustee K Parasaran had pointed out that a resignation takes effect once submitted under the trust’s constitution, leaving the trust with no option but to accept it.
Giri said the trust will meet again on July 22, by which time it expects the SIT to submit its final report.The report will be discussed at the meeting along with appointments of additional trustees, he said.
Giri said Krishna Mohan, who has been given additional charge as interim general secretary, would be free to choose a team to assist him and would oversee measures aimed at strengthening transparency and administrative systems.
He also attacked the Opposition.
“Those who fired on Karsevaks (in Ayodhya) and those who denied the existence of Lord Ram in the Supreme Court are today teaching us,” he said.
In the evening, trust members displayed before the press various items associated with the controversy, including a gold-plated Ramcharitmanas, a silver necklace, ‘charan-paduka’ (ceremonial footwear), and a silver crow.
The controversy first surfaced on June 7 when Samajwadi Party leader Tej Narayan ‘Pawan’ Pandey alleged that donations worth ₹5 crore to ₹7.5 crore were siphoned off from temple offerings. On June 13, the state government set up an SIT.
According to investigators, the probe prima facie revealed a systematic diversion of cash during the collection and counting process.
The SIT alleged that a portion of the offerings was siphoned off before being deposited into the temple’s designated bank account, leading to the arrest of eight employees associated with handling and counting donations on June 26.
Last month, a first information report was registered against eight named accused and other unidentified people under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 306, 316(5), 317(4), 317(5), 61 and 3(5), relating to offences such as criminal breach of trust, cheating, theft and criminal conspiracy, along with Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The eight men arrested so far include Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Ram Shankar Yadav ‘Tinnu’, Manish Yadav, Subhash Srivastava, Avinash Shukla, Rama Shankar Mishra, and Karunesh Pandey. Anukalp Mishra and Luvkush Mishra are related to each other, and also to trust member Anil Mishra. Ram Shankar Yadav – an aide of Rai – and Manish Yadav are related.
Last week, the police seized ₹79,85,493 from the eight arrested men, recovering money from bathrooms, haystacks and cow dung cakes
Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai, after the trust’s meeting, said, “The trust should be dissolved immediately and reconstituted under the guidance of the country’s four Shankaracharyas and members of the saint community.”