Amid the controversy over misappropriation of Ram Mandir donations, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Foundation on Monday accepted the resignation of general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra, saying the decision was taken in accordance with the constitution of the foundation.
The resignations have been formally accepted, Govind Giri, treasurer of the Trust, told a press conference. “Under the constitution of trust, resignation is acceptable. We have accepted the resignation,” Jerry said.
“We appreciate his contribution.”
He added: “When accepting his resignation, we appreciate his contribution from the beginning.”
This development comes amid allegations of irregularities in counting donations made to the Ram Mandir Fund. Referring to the controversy, Pankaj Jaiswal, a senior member of the trust, described the incident as “painful” and termed the alleged theft while calculating donations as “shameful”.
“It was painful to go through this,” Jaiswal said.
He added: “It was shameful, this theft while counting donations.”
The trust also announced organizational changes after the resignations. Krisha Mohan has been appointed interim general secretary, while Govind Giri will continue as treasurer of the trust.
The meeting is on July 22nd
Providing an update on the investigation, trust officials said another meeting is scheduled for July 22, by which time they expect the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to submit its final report.
“We are meeting again on the 22nd. By then we expect the final report of the special investigation team will have been issued,” Gerry said.
He stressed accountability and said trust would not protect anyone found guilty.
He said, “Theft is theft. The special court is doing its job. We also stress that all accused – known or unknown – must be punished.”
There are eight defendants in the donation case, and all of them were arrested. They are: Ramashankar Yadav alias Tino, Anukalp Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Karunesh Pandey, Manish Yadav, Lavkush Mishra, Ramashankar Mishra and Subhash Srivastava. It is said that Tinnu is considered as the closing of Champat Rai.
