The Uttar Pradesh government-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) has submitted its final report into the alleged theft and irregularities in donations offered at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, bringing relief to former Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai and former trustee Dr Anil Mishra.
According to sources, neither Rai nor Mishra has been named as an accused in the final SIT report. The report has been submitted to the state government and subsequently handed over to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for further action.
The development is significant as both Rai and Mishra had faced questions over their alleged role in the management of the temple's donation-counting system after the alleged theft came to light in June. Both had subsequently resigned from their positions, taking what was described as moral responsibility amid the controversy.
Eight accused already in jail
The final report retains the focus on the eight people who were named in the FIR registered on June 25 following the SIT's preliminary findings.
The accused are Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu. All eight have already been arrested and are in judicial custody.
The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint by Trust member Krishna Mohan at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi police station. The accused were booked under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
How the investigation began
The controversy erupted after alleged irregularities were detected while offerings from the temple's donation boxes were being counted. Following a request from the temple trust, the Uttar Pradesh government constituted a three-member SIT on June 13.
The team was headed by Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, with IG Range Kiran S and Special Secretary (Finance) Neel Ratan Kumar as members. The SIT submitted its preliminary report on June 23, following which the FIR was registered and arrests were made.
The final report is now expected to be placed before the Trust for consideration at its upcoming meeting scheduled for September 2.
Champat Rai had denied wrongdoing
Rai had earlier rejected allegations of wrongdoing and said he would respond to the allegations after the final SIT report was submitted.
In a letter issued in July, Rai had said that several "baseless allegations" had been levelled against him following the June 7 incident. He had maintained that he would answer every allegation point-by-point once the final report brought the facts on record.
The latest SIT findings therefore provide significant relief to Rai and Mishra, at least in the investigation conducted by the state-government-appointed SIT.
Supreme Court-monitored probe still underway
However, the latest development does not mean that the entire legal and investigative process has ended.
A separate SIT was subsequently constituted following Supreme Court intervention. The reconstituted team includes senior police officers, including IG Kiran S, DIG Ayodhya Somen Verma and Ayodhya SSP Gaurav Grover. The second investigation is continuing under the Supreme Court's oversight.
The Supreme Court has also declined, at this stage, to make the investigation's status report public, indicating that the court itself will examine the findings before deciding on further disclosure.
Thus, while the UP government's SIT report does not name Champat Rai or Anil Mishra as accused and keeps the criminal case focused on the eight already arrested, the broader controversy surrounding the management of Ram Temple donations remains under judicial scrutiny.