Make Ram Temple Trust Public, Akhara Urges SC
The apex court is scheduled to hear on July 20 a batch of pleas seeking a fair and time-bound probe into alleged embezzlement of donations at the temple
NEW DELHI: The Nirmohi Akhara has moved the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Centre to reconstitute the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which manages the Ram temple in Ayodhya, as a public trust.
The apex court is scheduled to hear on July 20 a batch of pleas seeking a fair and time-bound probe into alleged embezzlement of donations at the temple.
In its application, the Akhara contended that the existing structure and composition of the trust as a “private trust” was inconsistent with the spirit of the Supreme Court’s November 9, 2019 verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case.
The application has been filed in the disposed matter in which the court delivered the 2019 verdict that cleared the way for construction of the Ram temple and directed the Centre to allot a five-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for a mosque.
Filed through Mahant Raja Ramchandracharya Ateet Guru Raghunath Das, the plea sought directions to the Centre “to suitably recast the scheme and reconstitute the trust as a public trust and include therein structural safeguards for appropriate oversight of the decisions of the board of trustees by the seers of Ramanandi Bairagi Sampradaya with supervisory powers over the decisions of the board.”
It also sought guidelines for the appointment of trustees and prayed that “all rituals, sewa, bhog, puja and religious ceremonies in the Ram temple be conducted strictly according to the Ramanandi Sampradaya and the long-established customs and usages historically followed by the Nirmohi Akhara before the acquisition of the disputed site.”
The application further sought directions for the “restoration of the original deities of Shri Ram Lalla Virajman attached on January 5, 1950, and February 16, 1982, to the sanctum sanctorum, holding that the Trust had no authority in law to substitute or replace the original idols or in the alternative to restore the said deities to the applicant who can ensure that they are duly cared for appropriately.”
The plea also sought the appointment of an independent committee to examine whether the directions in the 2019 judgment were “faithfully” implemented by the Trust, and a forensic auditor to examine its financial and property transactions.
The Akhara said allegations of large-scale embezzlement of cash and valuables offered by devotees had recently emerged, following which the Uttar Pradesh government constituted a Special Investigation Team to probe the matter.
“It is respectfully submitted that these events starkly illustrate that the composition and functioning of the Trust - unaccountable to, and without any meaningful oversight of anyone - has resulted in a serious failure of custodial responsibility over a public religious endowment.”
What Akhara wants:
• Rituals, sewa, bhog and puja conducted according to Ramanandi traditions
• Historical customs of the Nirmohi Akhara followed
• Restoration of what it describes as the original Ram Lalla deities
• Independent scrutiny of the Trust’s compliance with the 2019 verdict
