Congress seeks forensic audit of Ram temple trust over donation theft claims

The Congress on Tuesday alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched with the “patronage” of the prime minister and the Uttar Pradesh chief minister to suppress the Ram temple donation theft case, news agency Press Trust of India reported. The party demanded an independent forensic audit of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

The demand came after the Supreme Court on Monday closed proceedings on a batch of petitions seeking an independent investigation into the alleged embezzlement of donations to the Ayodhya Ram temple. The court said the local court could proceed with the trial against the accused.

“Declaring the investigation complete does not end the questions; rather, it proves that a conspiracy is being hatched to hush up the matter with the patronage of the prime minister and the chief minister, and we will not let it succeed. This case cannot be considered closed until accountability is fixed,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said.

The Congress questioned why the investigation was limited to eight people accused of withdrawing cash. “Where is the scrutiny of the roles of those under whom this system was operating, those responsible for monitoring and control? Champat Rai, Anil Mishra, and Gopal Rao have been made witnesses,” Ramesh said.

“There is a vast difference between being a witness and being an accused. Why was there no independent probe into their administrative responsibilities and their roles at the time of the incidents? If it did happen, what were its conclusions?” he asked.

Ramesh demanded that administrative and financial accountability be fixed at every level, including that of senior office-bearers. He said the investigation must be independent and conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

“Chanda chori, aastha dhokha (theft of donations, betrayal of faith). In the case of theft of offerings and financial irregularities at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, the BJP government has washed its hands of responsibility by declaring the investigation complete without taking action against the big fish,” he said in a post in Hindi on X.

“Have the Prime Minister and Chief Minister completely abandoned public shame in their attempt to protect people associated with the RSS, Vishva Hindu Parishad, and the BJP?” Ramesh asked. He added, “Pravachan Minister ji, the country is watching this silence filled with your political shamelessness.”

Ramesh said the Congress wanted “an independent and comprehensive forensic audit of the donations, cash, bank accounts, gold-silver, valuable items, land, and construction expenses of the Ram Mandir Trust from its formation until now”.

He also demanded a public account of the funds collected from devotees before the trust was formed and details of the action taken on objections recorded in the 2020 and subsequent audit reports. He said anyone found guilty must face action under the law and called for the trust to be restructured to ensure transparency in its functioning.

According to Press Trust of India, the Supreme Court took note of the Uttar Pradesh government's submission that the court-appointed Special Investigation Team had filed a chargesheet in the case. A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant said the state could proceed with the trial “in accordance with the law”.

“But the question is, does filing a chargesheet against eight people constitute the full investigation of the entire case? Isn't there a need to fix accountability for those responsible for the security, counting, accounting, and monitoring of the temple's offerings, who made no effort to prevent the theft?” Ramesh said.

He alleged that the government had misled the Supreme Court by declaring the SIT investigation complete. “If not, then the government should explain why it did not deem it necessary to conduct a full, independent, impartial probe into the entire matter under Supreme Court supervision?” he said.

Ramesh claimed that while the Supreme Court had disposed of the petitions, it had made clear that it had not expressed an opinion on the merits of the allegations. He said the order could not be described as a clean chit for any side.

“Why was no independent probe conducted into the entire trust's financial management, monitoring system, and the roles of senior office-bearers? Is the government's priority to close this case after filing a chargesheet against eight accused while hiding the full truth?” he asked.

The Congress leader said a video showing the receipt of Rs 2.25 lakh in cash on June 4 had reached then-general secretary Champat Rai. He said details in the chargesheet also showed that CCTV footage was shown to Rai on June 5.

“So why was the FIR registered only on June 25? What happened in these 21 days? This delay appears to be a conspiracy to hush up the case, so the question is: Who decided to stall or delay the action? If evidence was destroyed during these 21 days of delay and this is a direct crime, why has no action been taken against those responsible?” Ramesh said.

The Congress maintained that the case should not be treated as closed merely because a chargesheet had been filed against eight people. It reiterated its demand for a Supreme Court-supervised investigation, a comprehensive forensic audit, accountability at all levels and restructuring of the temple trust.

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