Lucknow: In a major relief for the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust's former general secretary, Champat Rai, the special investigation team (SIT) on Tuesday
(August 18) gave a clean chit to him in its first report, sources told Times Now. The sources further claimed that the SIT also cleared Anil Mishra's name. Notably, Mishra is a former member of the trust. The SIT was constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the matter. Notably, weeks after the entire controversy over the alleged embezzlement of donation funds surfaced, both, Rai and Mishra resigned from their posts. Mishra’s name had figured in the preliminary report in connection with alleged lapses during the counting process, but he was not directly named as an accused. The sources claimed that Mishra has not been named as an accused in the final report either. The SIT’s final report contains only the names of the eight people who had already been arrested in the case. The report also mentions certain weaknesses and lapses in the monitoring and arrangements put in place by the bank and the trust during the counting of donations. Following this, steps have been taken to strengthen the administrative arrangements. Supreme Court on SIT: The Supreme Court on Monday (August 17) backed the SIT. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant asserted that the panel is accountable to the apex court. The SC made this observation while hearing a plea on the alleged donation theft at the Ram Mandir. "SIT is constituted by us. It is answerable and accountable to us," the top court remarks when a lawyer cast aspersions on the trust and the SIT and seeks the dissolution of the investigation team. The Supreme Court also allowed the petitioners and other bona fide public-spirited individuals to suggest specific aspects of the alleged financial irregularities that should be thoroughly investigated by the SIT. The bench directed that such suggestions be submitted to the Solicitor General’s office, which will forward them to the SIT for objective consideration during the probe. On July 19, the SIT submitted its status report in a sealed cover to the Supreme Court. The matter surfaced in the first week of June, and soon it snowballed into a political controversy.
