# SIT clears Champat Rai in Ram temple donation theft case 2026-08-18T08:56:10+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 4 independent outlets The Uttar Pradesh SIT probing donation theft at the Ayodhya Ram temple has given a clean chit to former trust general secretary Champat Rai and former member Anil Mishra in its final report. The report, submitted to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on Monday, names only the eight people already arrested in connection with the case. Both Rai and Mishra had resigned from the trust in June after the allegations emerged. The SIT was constituted by the UP government on June 13 at the trust's request, before the Supreme Court intervened. The final report finds weaknesses in the trust and bank's donation counting arrangements but does not implicate senior officials. The opposition, including Congress and AAP, has questioned the probe's credibility and demanded an independent CBI investigation under Supreme Court supervision. The Supreme Court has asked the SIT to continue the investigation to its logical conclusion. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The coverage is uniform on the central fact, the SIT cleared Champat Rai and Anil Mishra. National Herald and ABP Live include opposition criticism (Congress, AAP) questioning the probe's credibility, Livemint and India TV omit opposition reaction entirely. National Herald leads with the political storm and Supreme Court scrutiny, India TV leads with the clean chit. ABP Live adds that the report found weaknesses in bank and Trust monitoring for donations, a detail absent from India TV. The measured read: the SIT found no evidence against senior officials but flagged systemic lapses, whether the clean chit holds depends on the parallel Supreme Court-overseen probe. Watch for the SC's next status report deadline. ## Coverage Coverage: 4 sources, 2 pro-government, 2 neutral - nationalheraldindia.com (neutral report) Leads with clean chit, includes detailed opposition criticism and Supreme Court context - livemint.com (pro government) Focuses on clean chit and CEO selection, omits opposition response - news.abplive.com (neutral report) Leads with clean chit, adds system weaknesses finding - indiatvnews.com (pro government) Leads with clean chit, no mention of opposition or flaws This story was synthesised by AI from the 4 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 4 sources. Last updated 2026-08-18T10:18:56+00:00. Tags: Aam Aadmi Party, Ayodhya, Champat Rai, Congress, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, Uttar Pradesh government Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/sit-clears-champat-rai-in-ram-temple-donation-case/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/sit-clears-champat-rai-in-ram-temple-donation-case/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/