The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged theft of donations linked to the Ayodhya Ram temple has not found Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai or member Anil Mishra guilty, according to sources familiar with the final report.
The SIT's final report reportedly does not name either Rai or Mishra as an accused. The findings are in line with the preliminary report, which had also given Rai a clean chit. Mishra's name had figured in connection with alleged lapses in the counting process, but he had not been directly named as an accused.
According to sources, the final report lists only the eight people who had already been arrested in connection with the case. The report also points to certain weaknesses and lapses in the arrangements and monitoring by the bank and the Trust during the counting of donations.
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Final Report Handed Over To Ram Temple Trust
The Uttar Pradesh Home Department has handed over the SIT's final report to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for further action, an official statement said on Monday.
The three-member SIT was constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government on June 13 at the request of the Trust, before the Supreme Court intervened in the matter. Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant headed the panel, with Range Inspector General Kiran S and Special Secretary (Finance) Neel Ratan Kumar as its other members.
The SIT submitted its preliminary report to the state government on June 23 and made several recommendations to strengthen the system.
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Eight Arrested Accused Named In FIR
Following the preliminary report, Trust member Krishnamohan submitted a written complaint at Shri Ram Janmabhoomi police station. An FIR was subsequently registered on June 25.
The FIR named eight people as accused: Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava and Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu. Other unidentified individuals were also mentioned in the FIR.
The final SIT report, according to sources, does not add Rai or Anil Mishra to the list of accused. Instead, it records weaknesses in the systems used by the Trust and bank during donation counting, after which steps have been taken to strengthen the administrative and monitoring arrangements.