Ram Mandir Donation Row: Trust Treasurer Refuses To Resign, Says SBI Failed To Detect Embezzlement
Ram Mandir Donation Row: Trust Treasurer Refuses To Resign, Says SBI Failed To Detect Embezzlement Published By, Last Updated: July 15, 2026, 10:03 IST Clarifying
Ram Mandir Donation Row: Trust Treasurer Refuses To Resign, Says SBI Failed To Detect Embezzlement Published By, Last Updated: July 15, 2026, 10:03 IST Clarifying his role, Giri said that his responsibility was limited to maintaining the accounts of funds deposited into the trust's bank accounts. Rapid Read Govind Giri said the ongoing Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe would establish the exact amount involved but maintained that the reported figure of Rs 14 crore was incorrect. Ram Mandir Donation Row: Amid the ongoing controversy over the alleged donation theft at the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya, treasurer of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, Swami Govinddev Giri Maharaj on Tuesday ruled out resigning over the donation theft and said that officials of the State Bank of India (SBI), which handled the temple’s collections should have detected irregularities and flagged the alleged embezzlement. While addressing reporters in Pune, Giri said the temple trustees came from spiritual backgrounds and relied on financial experts appointed by the bank to streamline the collection and accounting process. “The temple trustees come from spiritual backgrounds, with no knowledge of financial discipline. The SBI officials appointed to streamline the temple collections are finance experts. They should have pointed out the possibility of theft of donations," he said. Rejecting reports that he had stepped down, Giri asserted that he would continue as the trust’s treasurer.
“I have not resigned and have no such intention. I am a follower of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj; I do not abandon the field," he said. Clarifying his role, Giri said that his responsibility was limited to maintaining the accounts of funds deposited into the trust’s bank accounts and maintained that all records were in order. “My responsibility was to maintain the accounts of the collection getting deposited into the trust’s accounts. Till date, all the records are up to the mark. Reports that I have resigned are false," he added. Giri further said that trust’s general secretary Champat Rai gave the responsibility to Anil Mishra and it was negligence on their part to not notice that money was being swindled. He said that he would never influence the SIT probe in the case and emphasised he would not resign as the trust’s treasurer. The trust treasurer also disputed media reports claiming that valuables worth Rs 14 crore had been stolen. He estimated the alleged embezzlement at around Rs 3 crore, while adding that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) would determine the exact amount during its probe. Giri acknowledged that there were security lapses in the donation collection system and said the trust would strengthen safeguards by expanding CCTV surveillance across the temple premises and introducing stricter frisking of staff and members entering or leaving the complex.
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