Chargesheet Filed In Ram Temple Donation Theft Case, Trustees Not Named

The hearing on bail applications of the remaining two accused in the Ram temple donation theft case was deferred on Wednesday after the local bar association raised objections following the filing of a chargesheet by police in the case, their lawyer said.

The bail applications of the two accused -- Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar alias Tinnu Yadav -- will now be heard on Thursday, said advocate Kul Shekhar Singh.

A special court had on Monday rejected the bail applications of three accused -- Avinash Shukla, Manish Kumar Yadav and Ram Shankar Mishra, and on Tuesday rejected those of Anukalp Mishra, Lav Kush Mishra and Karunesh Pandey.

Advocate Singh said the hearing was scheduled on Wednesday before Special Judge Rajat Verma of the Anti-Corruption Court but could not take place after the bar association raised objections following the filing of the chargesheet in the case.

"The hearing of the bail applications of the two accused was scheduled for Wednesday, but it has now been deferred to Thursday," Singh told PTI.

He said the chargesheet has been filed and taken cognisance of by the court, but the accused side has not yet received a copy of the document.

"Once we receive the copy of the chargesheet, which runs into thousands of pages, further legal action or response from our side will be decided," he said.

The lawyer also said information available to the local bar association indicated that the names of former Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust officials Anil Mishra, Champat Rai and Gopal Rao were not included in the chargesheet and no charges had been made against them.

Earlier, the bar association had submitted an application to the police seeking that the Trust officials also be brought within the ambit of the investigation.

Advocate Singh said the judicial custody of the six accused whose bail applications were rejected has subsequently been extended by 14 days.

Most of the accused arrested in the case are bank employees deployed for counting cash donations at the temple. Subhash Srivastava was allegedly in charge of the donation-counting process, while Tinnu Yadav worked as a driver and was a close aide of former Trust general secretary Champat Rai.

The case relates to allegations of embezzlement and theft of cash and valuables offered by devotees at the Ram temple. Eight people were arrested after an FIR was registered on June 25 following a preliminary report by a state government-constituted Special Investigation Team.

The prosecution has said investigators recovered Rs 79.85 lakh in connection with the case. The investigation was being conducted by the SIT, which had informed the Supreme Court that its chargesheet would be filed by September 25.

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