Police probing Ram temple donation theft case under wrong BNS sections, claims accused's counsel

The counsel representing the accused in the embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple on Tuesday claimed before a special court here that police are investigating the matter under wrong sections of the BNS.

Kul Shekhar Singh said sections of both theft and embezzlement have been imposed and these cannot run simultaneously.

Singh was pleading before the court of Special Judge (Prevention of Corruption Act), Ayodhya, Rajat Verma.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the alleged embezzlement case submitted its preliminary findings on June 23, following which an FIR was registered and eight persons associated with the temple's donation-counting process were arrested.

The investigation has since been expanded, with police recording the statements of several persons, including Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai.

"I pleaded before the court that sections of both theft and embezzlement have been imposed. Both of these sections cannot run simultaneously. Sections of life sentence have also been imposed against them," Singh said.

"At the same time, the Supreme Court has very clearly directed that the section of life sentence can only be imposed, when the accused is a habitual criminal or the accused has been punished before. But, in this case the accused are first-time offenders, so this section of life imprisonment does not apply here," he argued.

Singh added that he also pleaded before the court that the police booked the accused as public servants, but the Ram temple trust is not a public authority and the police, in the sections imposed, showed the accused as public servants and accused them of embezzlement of public property.

"Had police imposed the correct sections, then my clients could have got bail from the local court," he said.

Singh also informed that the court has reserved the judgement till the next date of hearing on September 2.