A special court in Ayodhya on Monday (September rejected the bail applications of three accused arrested in connection with the alleged theft of donations at the Ram temple here, their lawyer said.

Special Judge Rajat Verma of the Anti-Corruption Court heard the bail applications of Avinash Shukla, Manish Kumar Yadav and Ram Shankar Mishra, advocate Kul Shekhar Singh, who represents the accused, told PTI.

The three were among eight accused whose judicial custody was extended till September 21 by the court on Friday (September 18). Their bail applications were taken up for hearing on Monday (September 21).

Mr. Singh said the defence argued that the provisions relating to corruption and criminal breach of trust by a public servant invoked in the case did not apply to the accused as they were not government employees.

“The defence argued that if these two provisions, which it claimed had been wrongly invoked by police, were removed, the remaining offences carried a maximum punishment of seven years and the accused could be granted bail in the absence of any special circumstances,” he said.

“The lawyer also submitted that the police had so far failed to file the chargesheet in the case, but the court rejected the bail applications after hearing the arguments,” he said.

Mr. Singh said the bail applications of three other accused will be heard on Tuesday (September 22), while the application of the remaining two accused is scheduled to be taken up on Wednesday (September 23).

The case relates to the alleged embezzlement of cash and valuables offered by devotees at the Ram temple. The eight accused were arrested after an FIR was lodged on June 25 following a preliminary report by a state government-constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT). They are currently lodged in jail.

The other accused are Anukalp Mishra, Lav Kush Mishra, Karunesh Pandey, Subhash Srivastava and Ramashankar alias Tinnu Yadav.

Most of the accused were bank employees deployed for counting cash donations at the temple, while Mr. Srivastava was in charge of the donation-counting process and Tinnu Yadav worked as a driver and close associate of former Shri Ram Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai.

Investigators have so far recovered ₹79.85 lakh, according to the prosecution.

The court had earlier directed the police to produce the case diary and investigation report, as hearings on the bail applications had been repeatedly deferred after the investigating officer failed to submit the report.

Senior Congress leader Pramod Tiwari on Sunday (July 12, 2026) alleged that the real culprits in the alleged donation embezzlement at the Ayodhya Ram temple are being protected by the administration and the government machinery and reiterated the demand for a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the matter.

“I have been a Minister in the Uttar Pradesh government since the 1980s, when the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) started the agitation over the issue (Ram Janmabhoomi movement). I have witnessed from the beginning how they cheated common Hindu devotees. When the temple was inaugurated in 2024, it was against the established Vedic scriptures and Hindu shastras, and the Shankaracharyas boycotted the ceremony. Now, the reality is coming out in public about how common people are being cheated in the name of faith,” said Mr. Tiwari, Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and a Congress MP. 

“The eight individuals arrested are very small fish in this organised corruption nexus, which looted our holy temple. The real culprits are being protected by Delhi and the government machinery. I reiterate the demand for a Supreme Court-monitored inquiry in the Ayodhya issue,” he said.

Mr. Tiwari said when serious concerns are raised regarding the temple’s offerings, financial oversight, and administrative practices, citizens expect clarity, transparency, and accountability from the government.

“The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya stands as the ultimate symbol of the faith, devotion, and cultural consciousness of millions of Indians. In light of the serious allegations being made about the temple’s offerings, financial management, and administrative procedures, people expect clarity and accountability,” said the senior Congress leader. 

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday (July 8, 2026), said the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple have ‘angered’ the followers of Sanatan Dharma worldwide, particularly those who made the contributions, and accused the BJP of tarnishing India’s image abroad.

Mr. Yadav claimed that the news of the embezzlement has spread across the world. “The news of theft of offerings, donations and contributions from the Ayodhya temple has spread across the world. Followers of Sanatan Dharma living in different countries are ashamed because of the disrepute caused by the BJP and its associates. They are also hurt because many of them had donated to the temple or personally offered contributions,” he said in a post on X.

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister claimed the country was suffering a loss of reputation because of the alleged actions of the ‘BJP’s irreligious elements’. Mr. Yadav also claimed that investor confidence was being affected by the controversy.

“Investors across the world are withdrawing because they feel that if a government cannot safeguard even donations made to its own deity, how can it protect our investments tomorrow? The BJP government has completely lost its religious, cultural, political and economic credibility,” he said.

In a separate post on X, Yadav rejected allegations levelled against him by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who had linked him to Ramshankar alias Tinnu Yadav, an accused in the alleged temple donation theft case.

Describing the allegations as ‘false’, Mr. Yadav said the BJP had made a mistake by relying on people whose ‘personal record has historically been discredited’.

“The BJP committed a mistake by getting false allegations made through people whose personal record has historically been infamous and whose deeply corrupt social and political image is such that even leaders of their own party do not want them around,” he said.

He further alleged that such individuals were being used merely as ‘oudspeakers’ to spread lies.

“They have neither their own voice nor their own ideas. They are merely instruments in the hands of others. They have no personal credibility,” Mr. Yadav said.

Several donors and individuals claimed that costly articles, including a gold Ramcharitmanas, silver bricks and other precious gifts, were missing or had not been properly acknowledged, prompting the Uttar Pradesh government to constitute an SIT to probe the allegations.

The SIT has arrested eight accused in connection with the alleged embezzlement of cash offerings.

Amid mounting scrutiny, the Trust on Monday (July 6, 2026), accepted the resignations of its general secretary Champat Rai and member Anil Mishra. It appointed Mr. Krishna Mohan as interim general secretary at a Trust meeting.

At a time when the debate over the change in administrative structure of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya gathers pace, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Monday (July 6, 2026) reiterated its opposition to government control of the shrine. The organisation, however, said it had no objection to appointing a professional Chief Executive Officer (CEO), provided the person was not a serving bureaucrat and was accountable to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

Speaking to The Hindu, VHP joint general secretary Surender Jain said, “We are against government control of the Ram Temple. We will not allow it at any cost. This has been our stance since the beginning, not only for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya but for all other Hindu temples in India.”

Mr. Jain said the organisation, which had long campaigned for freeing Hindu temples from government control, was not opposed to the appointment of a professional to oversee the temple’s day-to-day administration.

“We are not against appointing a professional to manage the day-to-day affairs of the Ram Mandir, but the person must not be a serving bureaucrat and should be accountable to the Trust, not the government,” he said, adding that the CEO should be appointed by the Trust rather than the government.

Mr. Jain’s remarks came on the day when Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust accepted the resignation of its general secretary Champat Rai, amid the ongoing Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the alleged donation theft.

The call for appointment of a CEO was first made by the Ram Temple Construction Committee Chairman and former IAS officer Nripendra Misra, who advocated adopting a Tirupati-like model with a professional CEO to oversee daily operations.

“No one is asking that the trust deed or bylaws should be changed, but there must be a CEO with experience of working in Uttar Pradesh,” Mr. Misra had said, adding such an officer should work under the Trust.

In its first official reaction to the Ayodhya Ram temple embezzlement controversy, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Friday (July 3, 2026) appealed to Hindus to “remain united” and urged the authorities to ensure strict punishment for those found guilty. It cautioned against “conspiracies (by) anti-Hindu, anti-national forces” to exploit the incident and “malign Hinduism and society”.

In a video statement, RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said the Ram temple, built after the “struggles of generations” and the “sacrifices” of crores of Ram devotees, had become a centre of reverence and faith for the Hindu community.

Calling the alleged theft from the temple’s donation boxes “unfortunate”, Mr. Hosabale said the incident had hurt the sentiments of Ram devotees and the wider Hindu society.

Referring to the steps taken by the Uttar Pradesh government, he said a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had been constituted at the request of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and that legal proceedings had been initiated based on its recommendations. He said those found guilty in the investigation should face strict punishment.

The RSS said the incident should be treated as an “exceptional case” and called for comprehensive measures to address deficiencies in the temple’s administrative and operational systems. It said the confusion surrounding the matter should be brought to an end through corrective action by the temple management and the SIT.

The organisation expressed confidence that transparent financial management, efficient operations and systems ensuring accountability would help reinforce public confidence in the Trust and preserve the faith of devotees.

“The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh also appeals to the entire Hindu society to demonstrate necessary patience and restraint in this difficult moment and to foil the conspiracies of anti-Hindu, anti-national forces who seek to exploit this unfortunate incident to malign Hindu dharma and society,” Mr. Hosabale said.

The statement comes days after Vishwa Hindu Parishad sources told The Hindu that the controversy could derail several campaigns aimed at freeing Hindu temples from government control across India. According to the sources, the issue has sparked widespread discontent among devotees and supporters, with many expressing frustration over the developments. They warned that the growing public anger could weaken the momentum of the temple-freedom movement and make it difficult to mobilise support for similar campaigns in the future.

The alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya has emerged as an unexpected hurdle in the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) flagship campaign to free Hindu temples from government control.

Currently, the States that have legislation governing the management of Hindu temples include Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, and Maharashtra.