Ram Temple Trust accepts Champat Rai, Anil Mishra's resignations amid donation theft row

NEW DELHI: Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on Monday accepted the resignation of Champat Rai from the post of general secretary and trustee Anil Mishra amid the donation theft row. Krishna Mohan has been entrusted with additional duties as interim general secretary of the trust. "Champat Rai, serving as general secretary, was deeply pained; he felt it inappropriate to continue in his role until justice is fully served—meaning the culprits are apprehended and receive appropriate punishment. Driven by this sentiment, he tendered his resignation—a matter that was not ours to simply accept or reject. K Parasaran raised a significant point: under the Trust's constitution, a resignation is deemed accepted the moment it is submitted," said the trust treasurer Swami Govind Dev Giri Ji Maharaj. Defending Rai, Giri said, "I have known Champat Rai ji for thirty-two years, and his only mistake was placing excessive trust in those close to him...Back when no one even knew about the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, he was already here, driving the cause forward...We hold him in the highest regard...It is unfathomable how he could keep such wrongdoers by his side for so many years and fail to detect the conspiracies they were hatching. In my view, he remains untainted. He is not a criminal, though he did commit an error of negligence." Trustees Champat Rai and Anil Mishra stepped down last month, saying they were taking moral responsibility amid allegations of misappropriation of donations made to the temple. The controversy centres on allegations that donations made to the Ram Temple were siphoned off by individuals associated with the temple's management. A SIT constituted on June 13 to probe the alleged theft, submitted its preliminary report to the Uttar Pradesh government on June 23. The findings formed the basis of an FIR and the arrest of eight people named in the case. Investigators also recovered deleted CCTV footage that allegedly shows some of the accused concealing currency notes while removing them from the temple premises. Although no FIR has been registered against former general secretary, Champat Rai, ex-trustee Anil Mishra and special invitee Gopal Rao, lawyers from the Faizabad Bar Association in Ayodhya have filed a written police complaint seeking criminal proceedings against them.