Ayodhya: The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust blamed the State Bank of India (SBI) for lapses that led to the alleged embezzlement of temple donations but remained silent on the role of its own former office bearers and senior functionaries despite the Special Investigation Team (SIT) having flagged internal failures in its probe.
Reviewing the donation theft case, the Trust said trustees examined SBI's responsibilities under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) governing the counting of offerings and expressed disappointment over the bank's failure to adhere to the prescribed procedures. The Trust maintained that deviations from the agreed protocol resulted in irregularities in the counting process.
The Trust even gave a hint that it might change its main banking partner and can opt for private bank.
However, the statement issued after the meeting made no mention of lapses by former Trust functionaries, raising questions over why accountability was confined to the bank while senior office bearers were spared scrutiny. The SIT, in its findings, had reportedly concluded that former trustee Anil Mishra relaxed key safeguards laid down in the MoU, weakening the donation counting mechanism and creating conditions that enabled the alleged theft. Those findings found no reference in the Trust's official statement.
The meeting also did not address the role of former general secretary Champat Rai in allegedly giving extensive powers to Tinnu Yadav, who investigators said had access to both the donation boxes and the counting room keys. The SIT has identified this unrestricted access as one of the major factors behind the embezzlement.
At its meeting in Ayodhya, the Trust reviewed SBI's obligations under the MoU and concluded that the bank had failed to enforce the prescribed system for handling and counting devotees' donations. According to an official statement, trustees expressed disappointment over what they described as negligence on the part of SBI, saying deviations from the approved procedures resulted in irregularities in the counting process.
In one of its strongest observations since the theft surfaced, the Trust authorised its Finance Committee to hold discussions with SBI officials to ensure strict compliance with every provision of the MoU. The committee has also been asked to review the bank's contractual obligations and examine the future course of the arrangement if SBI fails to implement the prescribed guidelines and safeguards.
A senor official in Trust told this reporter that the Trust wants to handover the banking operations to a private bank because of if “operational transparency”. Therefore, the Trst has put SBI into notice
The Trust's hardening stand comes even as it has emerged that SBI had itself carried out an internal investigation after the alleged embezzlement surfaced and identified weaknesses in the donation counting mechanism, supervisory controls and deployment of outsourced manpower.
According to senior banking sources, soon after the Uttar Pradesh government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), senior SBI officials from the Lucknow Circle headquarters and the bank's Varanasi administrative office began making frequent visits to the SBI branch in Ayodhya, the principal banker of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. The branch manages nearly Rs 890 crore of the Trust's deposits and is responsible for handling the cash donations received daily through temple hundis.
According to senior officials, SBI had detected suspicious activities involving some personnel engaged in counting donations nearly three months before the case surfaced. After observing irregularities during internal monitoring, the bank recommended that certain outsourced employees be removed from the assignment.
That recommendation was formally communicated to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
Questions are being raised as to why no action followed the bank's recommendation and why the same personnel allegedly continued to participate in counting devotees' offerings despite the concerns raised by SBI. Officials are also looking into whether the communication was ignored, delayed or suppressed and whether any trust functionaries prevented action from being taken.
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Several corrective measures recommended during the bank's internal investigation have since been implemented.
Beginning July 19, following a week-long trial, the Trust introduced an entirely new donation counting system under SBI's supervision. The earlier counting teams were replaced and a two-shift system was introduced to strengthen supervision and accountability.
According to temple sources, each shift now comprises 10 to 12 personnel. The first shift operates from 8 am to 2 pm, while the second functions from 2 pm to 8 pm. Bank sources said the revised system incorporates several safeguards suggested during the internal investigation.
This reporter contacted senior SBI officials, including through email, seeking the bank's response to the Trust's allegations and the findings of the internal investigation. No response was received till the time of publication.
