New Delhi, Nov 7 (PTI) Stepping up its attack on the BJP over the Ram temple donation theft case, the Congress on Saturday said offerings are part of the country's faith, not anyone's private fiefdom, and asserted that the full truth about the theft of donations must come out with the guilty punished.
The opposition party also posed three questions over the issue, asking whether filing a chargesheet against eight people is enough, why should there not be an independent investigation into the trust's overall financial management and why is the government backing away from further investigation and establishing accountability under the Supreme Court's supervision.
In a post in Hindi on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "'Chanda Chori, Aastha Dhokha'. In its attempt to cover up the theft, the government is now facing questions raised by its own statements. In the Supreme Court, the government has presented facts from its own account that have deepened the questions."
The people of the country are asking why Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are silently giving "tacit support to the thieves", Ramesh said.
Why has there been an attempt, from day one, to cover up the "sin of stealing" donations and offerings. He asked.
"According to publicly available information, the state government itself set up the first SIT, and did so at the trust's request. On 13 June 2026, the Uttar Pradesh government formed a three-member SIT at the trust's request. Its initial report was submitted on 23 June to the then Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Sanjay Prasad, who has also been reported to have been associated with the trust as an ex officio member," he said.
Ramesh pointed out that the report was discussed at the trust's meeting on 6 July 2026.
Treasurer Govind Dev Giri then stated at a press conference that the trust's people had not betrayed anyone's trust, he recalled.
Expressing confidence in Champat Rai's character, he "applauded his services" and in other words, despite serious questions arising in the investigation, the trust leadership publicly defended its people linked to the BJP, RSS and VHP, Ramesh said.
Talking about the second SIT formed after the Supreme Court's intervention, he said that following the Supreme Court's order on 27 July 2026, a forensic auditor was included in the second SIT's investigation, led by IG Kiran S.
On 17 August 2026, the state government submitted this SIT's progress report to the Supreme Court in a sealed envelope marked "Confidential Report", he said.
As directed by the court, the report was kept confidential because the investigation was ongoing and was not shown to the petitioners, he said.
Posing three questions, Ramesh asked if the second SIT's report was kept confidential because the investigation was ongoing, how did the first SIT's report reach the trust's meeting, and how was it discussed.
"Was this not the same trust whose officials' roles and statements were within the scope of the investigation? What was the basis and purpose for passing the investigation report on to those people?" he said.
The first SIT's report was submitted to the then Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Sanjay Prasad, who has been reported to have been associated with the trust as an ex officio member, he said and asked whether this is not a serious question of conflict of interest.
"And does the trust leadership's public defence of Champat Rai based on that same report not raise questions about the investigation's impartiality and the protection of evidence? What steps did the government take to ensure impartiality in this situation?" Ramesh said.
If a second SIT and a forensic auditor were needed after the Supreme Court's intervention, why is the Uttar Pradesh government now trying to close the entire matter by declaring its SIT's investigation complete, he further asked.
"Is filing a chargesheet against eight people enough? Why should there not be an independent investigation into the roles of senior officials, failures in oversight and the trust's overall financial management? Why is the government backing away from further investigation and establishing accountability under the Supreme Court's supervision?" Ramesh said.
Donations and offerings are part of the country's faith, not anyone's "private fiefdom", he asserted.
The trust placed in the care of millions of devotees must be accounted for, he said.
"The full truth about the theft of donations and offerings must come before the country, and the guilty must be punished according to the law," Ramesh stressed.
Earlier this week, the Congress had alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched to hush up the Ram temple donation theft case with the "patronage" of the prime minister and the Uttar Pradesh chief minister and demanded an independent forensic audit of the temple trust.
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)