Ayodhya: The local bar association on Monday warned its members against representing defendants in the Ram Temple donation embezzlement case, saying anyone who does so will face a fine of Rs. $5 lakh, and asking those associated with the controversy to leave Ayodhya within three days. It threatened to lay siege to the city if Champat Rai, Anil Mishra and Gopal Rao, who were linked to the controversy, did not leave.
“The theft of offerings from the temple has deeply hurt our sentiments. All the lawyers… have agreed not to defend the arrested accused,” Faizabad Bar Association secretary Shailendra Jaiswal said after a meeting of their general body.
In 2005, the association refused to represent those accused in a terrorist attack on a makeshift temple in Ayodhya.
The association met on Monday as investigators expanded the investigation to trace the alleged money trail, identify undisclosed assets, and collect new evidence before requesting police custody of the accused. The Uttar Pradesh Police on Sunday raided the residences of all eight accused arrested in the donation theft case.
Ram Shankar Yadav, also known as Tinu Yadav, who has been named as the alleged leader, worked as Rai’s driver. Rai has tendered his resignation as general secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirth Kshetra Trust, which runs the temple.
The trust said on Saturday that the final call on Rai and Mishra’s move to step down will be taken at an upcoming meeting amid growing speculation over the future of two senior trust employees after the arrest of eight men, including Yadav and two of Mishra’s relatives. The police almost recovered $80 thousand pounds in cash from the homes of the accused.
The trust sought to reassure worshipers and said it remained committed to ensuring a fair and transparent investigation.
On June 13, the state government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) at the request of the corporation. The committee conducted a preliminary investigation in Ayodhya from June 15 to 20, and observed apparent violations in the handling of money and valuables.
A case has been registered against the said eight accused and other unidentified persons under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 306, 316 (5), 317 (4), 317 (5), 61 and 3 (5), relating to offenses like criminal breach of trust, cheating, theft and criminal conspiracy, along with Section 13 (1) (a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
