Barely two-and-a-half years after it was thrown open to devotees in January 2024, the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is at the centre of a financial scandal. Allegations surfaced in June 2026 of embezzlement of donations to the temple. Two founding trustees resigned, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed by the Uttar Pradesh government, eight employees were arrested. A search committee was formed to find a ‘professional’ CEO to manage the affairs of the temple.

The SIT’s interim report has been made public. Highlights include weak oversight of the handling of donations, ineffective security, revision of frisking rules and existing SOPs on pocketless uniforms, a cash-counting system that lacks traceability and surveillance that fell short.

The state government has fixed 15 July as the date when the SIT must submit its final report. We aren’t exactly holding our breath. But in this flurry of activity that looks like action is being taken against the wrongdoers, some questions have still not been vigorously interrogated.

Does the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra’s status as a private trust ringfence it from public scrutiny?

In its controversial Ayodhya judgment of 2019, the Supreme Court of India directed the Union government to set up a trust to build the Ram Mandir and manage its affairs. The directive did not specify that the trust should be ‘private’, yet the deed drafted by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) in 2020 chose to form a private trust, nominating founding trustees from the VHP, RSS and its affiliates.

The MHA maintains and the Central Information Commission (CIC) has ruled that Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra operates as an independent, autonomous body that receives no financial or administrative upkeep from the government. This ‘autonomy’ is why the Delhi High Court and CIC have argued that it lies outside the purview of the Right........

© National Herald