News Analysis India

Tag: Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust

  • Land deal: Plaint against Ayodhya temple trust members, BJP MLA

    By PTI

    AYODHYA: Hanuman Garhi temple Mahant Dharam Das has filed a police complaint against members of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and a BJP MLA, alleging fraud in the purchase of government land.

    Apart from all trust members and Gosaiganj BJP MLA Indra Pratap Tiwari, Das complained against Ayodhya Mayor Rishikesh Upadhyay’s nephew Deep Narayan Upadhyay and Faizabad Sub-Registrar S B Singh, according to police.

    Das has accused them of betraying people by misusing funds collected for the construction of the Ram temple.

    In a video statement to reporters, he also demanded immediate sacking of trust member Champat Rai.

    He further said the responsibility of running the shrine should be given to seers of Ayodhya, stressing the government should run the country and not the temple.

    In his complaint, Das alleged that Deep Narayan Upadhyay purchased 676 sq metre land from Mahant Devendra Prasadacharya in February for Rs 20 lakh, which was further sold to the temple trust for Rs 2.5 crore.

    The circle rate of the land is about Rs 35 lakhs, he said.

    The Gosaiganj BJP MLA and trust member Anil Mishra were witnesses for the land deal with the temple trust, he said in the complaint.

    When contacted, trust members refused to comment over the issue.

    However, the incharge of the trust office here, Prakash Gupta, said if the nazul (government) land was involved in the deal then Das should have complained to government officials.

    What is the meaning of going to police, he said, trashing allegations of corruption and adding that they bought the land and paid the amount.

  • HC stays arrest of two accused of defamatory social media posts against Ram temple trust’s Champat Rai

    By PTI
    ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday granted a stay on the arrest of two men who have been accused of posting defamatory content on social media against Champat Rai, the general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

    It asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file a counter-affidavit in the case and issued notice to Rai’s brother Sanjay Bansal who had lodged a complaint against the two men at Nagina police station in Bijnor.

    Justice S P Kesarwani and Justice Piyush Agrawal passed the order in two separate petitions filed by Vineet Narain and Rajneesh Kapoor — the two accused in the case.

    On June 19, Bansal complaned to police that Narain and Kapoor had posted some content on social media which were against Champat Rai and were the based on false allegations made by one Alka Lahoti with intention to promote enmity or hatred between sections of society.

    The petitioner had claimed in the court that from the reading of the FIR no offence was made out, that it was lodged with malafide intent and it does not disclose commission of any offence.

    Following the hearing, the court observed, “Bare perusal of the impugned first information report shows that even if the allegations made in the impugned FIR are taken in their entirety they do not constitute the offence alleged.”

    “From the aforesaid it prima facie, appears that the impugned first information report cannot be sustained in view of the law laid down by the Hon’ble Apex Court in State of Haryana and others vs. Bhajan Lal”, it added.

    The High Court issued a notice to Sanjay Bansal and fixed July 27 as the next date of hearing in the case.