Ram Mandir donation row: Congress’ Ajay Rai placed under house arrest ahead of party delegation’s Ayodhya visit | Video

A senior Congress delegation is scheduled to visit Ayodhya on Tuesday to offer prayers at the Ram temple amid the ongoing row over alleged financial irregularities linked to the shrine.

According to a Congress statement, the delegation will be headed by Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai and will include MPs Kishori Lal Sharma (Amethi), Rakesh Rathor (Sitapur), Ujjwal Raman Singh (Prayagraj) and Tanuj Punia (Barabanki).

In a separate statement issued late on Monday, the party alleged that Rai had been placed under house arrest at a hotel in Ayodhya.

The delegation will also include former Barabanki MP S P Gautam, former MLC Deepak Singh, former Maharajganj MLA Virendra Chaudhary and former Barabanki MLA Mita Gautam.

The Congress said it has already informed the local administration about the planned visit.

Earlier on Monday, Uttar Pradesh minister Dayashankar Singh accused Opposition leaders of lacking faith in Lord Ram, saying they had neither visited the Ram temple in Ayodhya nor contributed to its construction. He also criticised them for questioning those who had given up “family life to serve the nation”, according to PTI.

“These are the people who do not believe in Lord Ram. Some among them do not even accept his existence. They have never gone for Lord Ram’s darshan. Have those criticising ever visited the Ram temple? Have they made any contribution to its construction?” Singh questioned.

Ayodhya lawyers boycott accused, seek CBI probe

The Faizabad Bar Association in Ayodhya on Monday announced that none of its members would appear for the eight people arrested in connection with the alleged Ram temple donation scam. The association also said it would seek a CBI investigation into the case.

In a separate development, the Supreme Court heard a plea seeking a time-bound probe by a CBI-led multi-disciplinary team. However, a vacation bench declined to hear the matter urgently and deferred it until after the summer break, observing that “heavens are not going to fall”.

The Bar Association passed a resolution stating that any member who violated its decision to boycott the accused would be fined ₹5 lakh. It also demanded that Champat Rai, Anil Mishra and Gopal Rao—who are linked to the temple’s management but are not named in the FIR—”must leave” Ayodhya “within three days”, warning that otherwise the city would be blockaded and no one would be allowed to enter.

Association president Kalika Prasad Mishra called for legal action against the three individuals and said the body would move the high court and, if required, the Supreme Court, seeking a CBI inquiry.

The association recalled that it had adopted a similar stance in 2005 after the terrorist attack on the then makeshift Ram temple, when its members refused to defend the accused. In that case, a lawyer from Lucknow eventually represented them.

The eight accused, who were arrested last Thursday, were produced before Special Judge (Anti-Corruption Court) Rajat Verma through video conferencing. They were remanded to judicial custody for another two weeks after the police chose not to seek their custodial remand, according to Special Prosecution Officer Umesh Dubey.

The accused were responsible for counting cash and valuables received as donations at the Ram temple.

Meanwhile, PTI sources in the State Bank of India (SBI) claimed that the bank had proposed replacing the staff involved in counting donations at the temple around three months ago, but the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust did not approve the move. The Trust did not immediately respond to the claim.

According to the sources, SBI had suspected around three months ago that money was being siphoned from the temple’s donation boxes and had recommended removing the personnel handling the cash-counting process.

During the hearing in the Supreme Court, Justices M M Sundresh and Sheel Nagu declined the request for an urgent hearing on the alleged donation irregularities, stating that the matter would be taken up after the court reopens on July 13 following the summer recess.

“Heavens are not going to fall… What is the urgency,” the bench remarked orally.

The petition, filed by advocates Ajay Kumar Rai and Dinesh Kumar Yadav, sought a probe by a CBI-led multi-disciplinary Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the alleged irregularities related to the functioning and administration of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

The plea also requested the Supreme Court to direct the Centre, the Uttar Pradesh government and the temple trust to establish and implement regulatory, oversight and audit mechanisms to safeguard the confidence of millions of devotees and donors.

According to the petition, the matter goes beyond the alleged commission of cognisable offences and has a direct bearing on the faith and trust of countless devotees.