Ram Mandir Trust Chief Quits After Donation Scam Arrests

Synopsis

On June 26, 2026, a day after the arrest of eight people over alleged embezzlement of donations for the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the voluntary resignation of Champat Rai, General Secretary of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, and trustee Anil Mishra, became a matter of public debate. Both blamed administrative failures in their sentencing for their moral responsibility. The resignations come after the Special Investigation Team's preliminary probe had identified serious irregularities in the receipt of cash, gold and silver offerings and registration of FIR under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Trust's Top Two Exit in Arrest Fallout's Leadership

On Friday, the day after all eight accused in the Ram Mandir donation-misappropriation case were arrested, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust chief Champat Rai resigned. At the same time, Anil Mishra, a trustee, resigned.

The resignations, it is reported, were the result of the direct intervention of the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Both the exits were officially confirmed by the Director of Information, Government of Uttar Pradesh

The resignations coincided with a growing investigation's report by the Special Investigation Team, which reportedly found that there were serious irregularities in how the team dealt with, accounted for and monitored devotees' donations.

The SIT had earlier given its preliminary inputs on June 23 and an FIR had been lodged by the CBI on June 25 against eight accused. Eight accused are mentioned in the FIR, of which six are employees of the temple, who are in charge of counting cash. The former driver of Champat Rai himself, Ram Shankar Yadav (Tinnu) was among the arrested criminals.

On the directions of the Uttar Pradesh Government, the case has been filed under various sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita such as Section 306, Section 316(5), 317(4), 317(5), Section 61, Section 3(5).

Rai, however, was not mentioned in the FIR, but admitted to the lack of supervision (defect in the duty of supervision) during his period of service. For its part, CM Yogi Adityanath reiterated the government's zero tolerance policy, while the opposition leaders raised the question of whether it would be limited to the operational level or extend higher up the hierarchy.

The SIT's final report is still to be received, and by all signs, the institutional clean sweep at the most prominent temple trust in India is yet to be completed.