Overview
- The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday constituted a three-member Special Investigation Team led by Vijay Vishwas Pant to examine claims that donations to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust were unaccounted for.
- The Trust itself asked the chief minister for the SIT after political leaders raised public allegations and investigators detained two employees and recovered cash from a former worker’s home.
- A Public Interest Litigation filed in the Allahabad High Court seeks a CBI investigation and a CAG forensic audit and cites former accounts head Mahipal Singh’s claims that counting was under‑recorded, CCTV footage was deleted, and donated valuables were removed without records.
- Trust officials say periodic internal audits and bank procedures have found no evidence so far while several news reports and unnamed sources say the Prime Minister’s Office and RSS have sought reports and some funds may have been recovered.
- The probe touches a high‑profile national project funded by millions of devotees and could trigger further audits, court hearings and political demands for public disclosure depending on the SIT’s findings and the court’s response to the PIL.