Uttarakhand Govt Orders Action Over Financial Irregularities at Badrinath-Kedarnath Temples

An FIR was registered against a suspended Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee employee (File photo)

NEW DELHI: The Uttarakhand government has directed the chief executive officer of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) to initiate action against officials and employees found responsible for alleged financial irregularities, following an inquiry into payments made for the accommodation, food and other expenses of VIP guests at the Kedarnath establishment.

In a June 25 letter, deputy secretary Anil Kumar Pandey of the Tourism and Religious Affairs Department referred to the inquiry report, which found prima facie evidence that advance funds were released from the temple corpus without approval from the competent authority, amounting to a financial irregularity.

The inquiry report questioned the roles of the then Manager, Kedarnath, the then Chief In-charge Officer, Kedarnath, and the then Chief Executive Officer.

The government directed the BKTC CEO to take appropriate action against the officials and employees named in the report in accordance with the provisions of the Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee Act, 1939, and the rules framed under it.

The directive comes as multiple financial matters related to the BKTC remain under scrutiny, including the alleged theft of donations at the Badrinath temple.

Separately, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Sunday recorded statements of five witnesses in connection with the alleged Badrinath Temple donation theft case.

Uttarakhand Police said the BKTC will submit bank records for the last three years as part of the investigation.

Police said CCTV footage from July 2 has been recovered, in which suspended BKTC employee Pramod Nautiyal is allegedly seen collecting cash suspiciously from the temple's donation counting room.

Speaking to ANI, Chamoli SP Surjit Singh Panwar said the SIT has recorded statements of available witnesses and is awaiting the BKTC's internal inquiry report before proceeding further.

"We are currently investigating on the basis of the complaint given by the BKTC. We have recorded the statements of some of the available prime witnesses in the case. We are waiting for the official internal enquiry report of the BKTC. The statement of the other witnesses will be recorded soon. The process of analysing the CCTV footage and collecting the evidence is underway. After the due collection of evidence, we will proceed with further action against the accused," he said.

According to Uttarakhand Police, CCTV footage allegedly shows Nautiyal "suspiciously hiding or stealing" bundles of Rs 500 and Rs 100 notes, gold and silver coins, shaligram stones and offering envelopes from the donation counting room.

Police said he was also seen making repeated trips between the counting room and his office, leading investigators to suspect that the stolen items were being concealed there.

"The accused Pramod Nautiyal is seen suspiciously hiding or stealing bundles of Rs 500 and Rs 100 notes, along with gold and silver coins, shaligram stones, and envelopes of offerings estimated to contain Rs 10 to 12 thousand rupees. Furthermore, while doing so, he is seen going back and forth between his office and the counting room two to three times. The police suspect that after stealing money, gold and silver coins, etc. , from the counting room, he would store them in his office. This sequence of events was observed in the CCTV footage from July 2," Uttarakhand Police said.

The alleged irregularities came to light during the counting of cash offerings made by devotees at the Badrinath temple on July 2.

A preliminary inquiry found that cash was allegedly removed from the counting area in violation of established procedures.

An FIR was registered at Badrinath Police Station following a complaint by BKTC In-charge Temple Officer Yudhvir Pushpwan.

Statements of other BKTC officials, including CCTV control officer Panwar and Harender Kothari, who was present during the counting process, have also been recorded.

Meanwhile, Nautiyal has moved the Uttarakhand High Court challenging his suspension and the FIR against him.

Justice Alok Mehra directed the BKTC to file its response, with the next hearing scheduled for July 16.

The case is currently being investigated by the police, the SIT, the BKTC's departmental inquiry committee and a high-level committee headed by the Garhwal Commissioner.