Now Reading: SIT clears Champat Rai in Ram temple donation theft case
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SIT clears Champat Rai in Ram temple donation theft case
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: 4 sources, 2 pro-government, 2 neutral
Sources (4): nationalheraldindia.com (neutral report), livemint.com (pro government), news.abplive.com (neutral report), indiatvnews.com (pro government)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 4 sources linked above. Methodology and corrections.
Updated: this story now draws on 4 sources.
