Ram Mandir Trust receives legal notice demanding transparency on donations and expenditures accounts

The notice was filed through his counsel, Supreme Court Advocate Satyam Singh Rajput, and is addressed to the Trust's President, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das; General Secretary, Champat Rai; and Treasurer, Swami Govind Dev Giri.

The notice calls upon the Trust to disclose a complete, itemised, year-wise account of donations and expenditures from F.Y. 2021-22 to 2025-26 within three days of receipt. It specifically requests audited balance sheets, income and expenditure statements, auditors' reports, bank account details, records of land purchases, and any foreign contributions received under the FCRA.

The legal notice follows allegations made by former SP MLA from Ayodhya, Pawan Pandey, who claimed that between 7 crore and 7.5 crore in donations were misappropriated from the Ram Mandir. But Champat Rai, General Secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, has categorically rejected these claims.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav has since demanded an impartial investigation, terming the Uttar Pradesh government's silence on the matter as "suspicious". Yadav has urged the judiciary to take cognisance of the issue and has called upon the temple administration to make the relevant CCTV footage public.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut alleged that "theft" has become pervasive within the BJP. He further accused the ruling party of having a history of "stealing everything", ranging from EVMs to the offerings made by devotees to Lord Ram.

"The way a dacoity involving over Rs 5 crore was committed against the Ram Mandir's offerings; it is visible in the CCTV footage... If Rs 5 crore from the offerings made to Ram are stolen, your government, both in UP and at the Centre is responsible. You steal EVMs, votes, seats, and you even steal from the offerings made to Ram; theft is everywhere with you... We feel Lord Ram is calling us back. Yesterday, I spoke to Uddhav Thackeray ji and said we must go to Ayodhya. So, a programme for Ayodhya is being planned. We will go to Ayodhya first. We will meet Lord Ram first. We will bow our heads and seek forgiveness from Lord Shri Ram..." said Raut. (ANI)