LUCKNOW: A day after promising to respond to all allegations once the SIT submits its final report on the alleged embezzlement of donations in the Ram temple, Champat Rai, the former General Secretary of the Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, has distanced himself from the controversial cash-counting norms implemented in February 2025.
In his submission to the SIT, Rai explicitly shifted culpability to fellow trustee Anil Mishra and the State Bank of India (SBI) chief manager, saying the document was signed by the two of them and not by him.
Details of the submission point to growing internal friction within the temple management.
In his written statement, Rai claimed he never approved the cash-counting guidelines. He also raised questions about the State Bank of India's role in the cash-counting process at the temple.
Urging the SIT to make his submission part of its investigation records, Rai also expressed concerns about the temple's security arrangements.
He claimed in the letter to the SIT that he was completely opposed to the cash-counting norms implemented on February 6, 2025, and that the related document was signed by Mishra and the SBI chief manager.
Rai claimed he became aware of the document only on June 13, 2026, through the trust's accounts office. He said all major contract documents between August 2020 and June 2026 bore his signature, except the one relating to the cash-counting norms implemented in February 2025.
He alleged that if he was not in Ayodhya, his signature should have been obtained later or the trust should have waited for his return.
Rai also referred to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the temple trust and SBI on February 9, 2024. He claimed every page of the MoU, which included provisions for the installation of CCTV cameras and iron grills to ensure the security of the cash-counting process, bore his signature.
However, the temple trust has not yet responded to the viral letter submitted by Rai to the SIT during the course of the investigation.
It may be recalled that following the SIT's preliminary findings, Mishra came under scrutiny for his alleged role in the irregularities, leading to police notices and questioning.
Meanwhile, divisions within the temple trust appeared to deepen as trustee Mahant Dinendra Das of the Nirmohi Akhara claimed on Wednesday that a copy of Rai's resignation was not placed before the trustees during Monday's meeting.
He claimed that a majority of the trustees, including himself, were not in favour of accepting Rai's resignation.
However, senior advocate K Parasaran, also a trustee and the architect of the trust's constitution, said that under the trust's constitution, the resignation was deemed accepted the moment it was tendered. He said the resignation process should have been transparent and that all members of the trust should have been informed.
