The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on Wednesday appointed a former air marshal as its first chief executive officer (CEO) and inducted three new members as it attempted a major restructuring to move on from the swirling controversy over irregularities in donation collections at the Ram Temple .
However, no decision could be taken on the position of spokesperson for the trust, added Mohan. The BJP welcomed the appointment of retired Air Marshal Mishra as the CEO, stressing the Trust operates independently. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav asked why employees arrested in the alleged temple donation theft case were still in jail while senior officials had been given a clean chit.
The donation theft controversy first surfaced on June 7 when Samajwadi Party leader Tej Narayan ‘Pawan’ Pandey alleged that donations worth ₹ 5 crore to ₹ 7.5 crore were siphoned off from temple offerings. On June 13, the state government set up the first SIT comprising Lucknow divisional commissioner Vijay Vishwas Panth, inspector general of police (Lucknow range) Kiran S and special secretary (finance) Neel Ratan).
VHP international president Alok Kumar welcomed the appointment of Bhagchandka, describing him as a “frontline soldier” of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. “Out of three names shortlisted by the search committee, the trust selected former Air Marshal Jeetendra Mishra for the CEO’s post,” said former interim general secretary Krishna Mohan after the meeting. BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP and former deputy Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma said, “Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust is an independent body and its decisions uphold religious sentiments without outside interference. “New committees are being formed and a new CEO is being appointed, but what has the government done against those who committed the earlier wrongdoing?” he said.
Rajya Sabha MP Ramjilal Suman (SP) also questioned the government’s action against those allegedly involved in the earlier irregularities.
A second SIT was constituted in July following the Supreme Court’s direction for an IPS-led investigation. On June 25, a first information report was registered against eight named accused and other unidentified people under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 306, 316(5), 317(4), 317(5), 61 and 3(5), relating to offences such as criminal breach of trust, cheating, theft and criminal conspiracy, along with Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
