New Delhi, Nov 3 The Congress on Tuesday alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched to hush up the Ram temple donation theft case with the “patronage” of the prime minister and the Uttar Pradesh chief minister and demanded an independent forensic audit of the temple trust.
“Declaring the investigation complete does not end the questions; rather, it proves that a conspiracy is being hatched to hush up the matter with the patronage of the prime minister and the chief minister, and we will not let it succeed. This case cannot be considered closed until accountability is fixed,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said.
The opposition party questioned why the investigation was limited to eight individuals accused of withdrawing cash.
“Where is the scrutiny of the roles of those under whom this system was operating, those responsible for monitoring and control? Champat Rai, Anil Mishra, and Gopal Rao have been made witnesses.
“There is a vast difference between being a witness and being an accused-why was there no independent probe into their administrative responsibilities and their roles at the time of the incidents? If it did happen, what were its conclusions?” he asked.
Ramesh demanded fixing of administrative and financial accountability at every level, including that of senior office-bearers and said the investigation must be independent and under Supreme Court supervision.
“Chanda chori, aastha dhokha (theft of donations, betrayal of faith). In the case of theft of offerings and financial irregularities at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, the BJP government has washed its hands of responsibility by declaring the investigation complete without taking action against the big fish.
“Have the Prime Minister and Chief Minister completely abandoned public shame in their attempt to protect people associated with the RSS, Vishva Hindu Parishad, and the BJP?” he said in a post in Hindi on X.
“Pravachan Minister ji, The country is watching this silence filled with your political shamelessness,” Ramesh said.
The Congress’s demand is clear, he said, “conduct an independent and comprehensive forensic audit of the donations, cash, bank accounts, gold-silver, valuable items, land, and construction expenses of the Ram Mandir Trust from its formation until now.”
Also publicly account for the funds collected from devotees before the trust’s formation. Bring forth details of actions taken on the objections recorded in the 2020 and subsequent audit reports, he said.
Ramesh said whoever is found guilty must face action as per the law and demanded the restructuring of the trust to ensure transparency in its functioning.
The Congress’ reaction came after the Supreme Court on Monday closed the proceedings on a batch of petitions seeking an independent probe into the Ayodhya Ram temple donations embezzlement case, saying that the local court would now proceed with the trial in the case against the accused.
Taking note of the Uttar Pradesh government’s submission that the apex court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) has filed a chargesheet in the case, a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant said that the state can proceed with the trial in accordance “with the law”.
“But the question is, does filing a chargesheet against eight people constitute the full investigation of the entire case? … Isn’t there a need to fix accountability for those responsible for the security, counting, accounting, and monitoring of the temple’s offerings, who made no effort to prevent the theft?” Ramesh said.
“We believe the government has misled the Supreme Court by declaring the SIT’s investigation complete. If not, then the government should explain why it did not deem it necessary to conduct a full, independent, impartial probe into the entire matter under Supreme Court supervision?” Ramesh said.
The Supreme Court disposed of the petitions but made it clear that it has not opined on the merits of the allegations, he claimed, adding that this order cannot be called a clean chit for any side.
“Why was no independent probe conducted into the entire trust’s financial management, monitoring system, and the roles of senior office-bearers? Is the government’s priority to close this case after filing a charge sheet against eight accused while hiding the full truth?” he asked.
The Congress leader said a video of Rs 2.25 lakh in cash being received on June 4 reached then-General Secretary Champat Rai and the charge sheet details also reveal that CCTV footage was shown to him on June 5.
“So why was the FIR registered only on June 25? … What happened in these 21 days? This delay appears to be a conspiracy to hush up the case, so the question is: Who decided to stall or delay the action? If evidence was destroyed during these 21 days of delay and this is a direct crime, why has no action been taken against those responsible?” he said.
(PTI News)
