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The Uttar Pradesh Police Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Wednesday, September 23, filed a chargesheet against eight accused in the alleged theft and embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya. The chargesheet, comprising around 74,000 pages along with supporting documents, annexures, exhibits and other evidence, was filed before a local court.
The chargesheet was filed roughly 90 days after the case was registered. Kul Shekhar Singh of the Legal Aid Defence Council, who represents the accused, said the chargesheet was filed by the investigating officer under various provisions, including those relating to criminal breach of trust and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The eight accused named in the case are Avinash Shukla, Lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav and Subhash Srivastava. They are currently in judicial custody.
Senior Superintendent of Police (Ayodhya) Gaurav Grover said the chargesheet had been accepted by the court and was filed under various provisions, including those relating to criminal breach of trust and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The document runs to around 74,000 pages.
The chargesheet comes days after the SIT submitted a status report to the Supreme Court on its investigation. The SIT told the Supreme Court that CCTV footage from the counting room at the temple’s Pilgrim Facility Centre (PFC), along with other digital evidence, had revealed 105 instances of unauthorised removal or concealment of currency.
The SIT said the instances involved assistance from other people participating in the counting process. Investigators examined CCTV footage, witness statements, searches and recoveries, bank and financial records, property-related documents, mobile data, call detail records, forensic evidence and other documentary and electronic material.
The investigation also found no discrepancies in the handling of certain valuables and donations. These included 200 kg of silver bricks, 38.288 kg of silver bricks, a silver necklace, Charan Paduka and a donation related to the Ramcharitmanas.
During the investigation, police recovered around Rs 79.8 lakh from seven of the eight accused. No cash or valuables were recovered from Subhash Srivastava.
Most of the accused were involved in counting cash donations at the temple. Srivastava was in charge of the donation-counting process, while Tinnu Yadav worked as a driver and was a close aide of former general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, Champat Rai.
The FIR in the case was registered on June 25 at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station following a complaint by Krishna Mohan, a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. The investigation was subsequently taken up by the SIT constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government.
The filing of the chargesheet led to a protest by lawyers at the Ayodhya District Court. Local advocates halted work and went on strike after learning that the chargesheet had been filed. They gathered outside the court of the Special Judge under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The lawyers said they had earlier raised objections and sought an inquiry into the alleged roles of former Trust officials Champat Rai, Anil Mishra and Gopal Rao.
Ayodhya Bar Association president Kalika Prasad Mishra said the lawyers had earlier submitted an application to the police seeking an inquiry into the three officials. The three were not named in the chargesheet.
Champat Rai has since resigned as general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, while Anil Mishra was a member of the Trust. Gopal Rao was often invited to Trust meetings as a special invitee.
The filing of the chargesheet also affected the bail proceedings of the accused. The bail applications of Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar alias Tinnu Yadav, which were scheduled for Wednesday, were deferred to Thursday after objections were raised by the local bar association.
Advocate Kul Shekhar Singh said the defence had not yet received a copy of the chargesheet.
“Once we receive the copy of the chargesheet, which runs into thousands of pages, further legal action or response from our side will be decided,” Singh said.
A special court had on Monday rejected the bail applications of Avinash Shukla, Manish Kumar Yadav and Ram Shankar Mishra, while on Tuesday it rejected the bail pleas of Anukalp Mishra, Lav Kush Mishra and Karunesh Pandey.
Singh said the judicial custody of the six accused whose bail applications were rejected had subsequently been extended by 14 days.
The SIT had informed the Supreme Court that it would file its first chargesheet by September 25. The filing on September 23 comes two days ahead of that deadline.
