AS INVESTIGATION into donation theft is heating up, the troubled past around the sacred Ram Mandir site is sparking renewed concerns about the integrity of individuals who may have profited unfairly from the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in 2019. From the alleged 2021 land scam, where the ₹2 crore land was bought and then re-sold at ₹18 crore within 10 minutes, to the irregular land holdings around Ayodhya Ram Mandir site immediately following 2019 verdict, there are various incidents where high rank individuals, whether in government or in religious trusts, acted for their own gains.
In 2021, The Indian Express reported that besides private investors, several politicians, serving and retired bureaucrats, revenue officials, and even close relatives of officials handling land matters purchased plots around the temple site. Some of these purchases reportedly happened while official inquiries into disputed land were already underway, leading to allegations of possible conflict of interest.
Following the Supreme Court judgment in 2019, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust was formed in February 2020 by the central government to oversee the construction of the Ram Temple. The trust itself acquired nearly 70 acres for the temple complex around the main infrastructure. Meanwhile, private investors also rushed to buy land in nearby villages expecting prices to soar.
According to The Indian Express, many transactions took place within a five-kilometre radius of the temple. Buyers included local MLAs, the Ayodhya Mayor, influential businessmen, retired IAS officers, serving government officials, and their relatives.
One of the controversies centred around the Maharshi Ramayan Vidyapeeth Trust (MRVT), which had purchased large tracts of land in Barhata Manjha village during the early 1990s.
The investigation found that around 21 bighas of land belonging to Dalit families had been purchased through Ronghai, a Dalit employee of the MRVT. Under Uttar Pradesh land laws applicable at the time, non-Dalits could not purchase small agricultural holdings belonging to Dalits without prior permission from the District Magistrate.
According to the Indian Express report, the sale deeds were registered in Ronghai's name in 1992. Later, in June 1996, he signed an unregistered donation deed, or daan-patra, transferring the land to MRVT. Revenue records were subsequently changed to show the trust as the owner.
The trust reportedly paid around ₹6.38 lakh for these parcels. However, by the time the controversy surfaced years later, the same land was estimated to be worth between ₹3.9 crore and ₹8.5 crore. One of the sellers, Dalit resident Mahadev, had sold nearly three bighas for around ₹1.02 lakh. Years later, he became the complainant whose petition triggered an official inquiry into the land transfer.
The issue surfaced in 2019 after MRVT began selling portions of the land. One of the Dalit sellers, Mahadev, approached the Uttar Pradesh Board of Revenue alleging that his land had been illegally transferred. Responding to the complaint, the Divisional Commissioner constituted a committee that submitted its report on February 1, 2020. Later that year, then District Magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha approved the findings and recommended action against MRVT and certain government officials, stating that land belonging to a Scheduled Caste person had been transferred through an unregistered donation deed.
The report was subsequently approved by Divisional Commissioner M P Agrawal in March 2021, followed by filing of a formal case before the Assistant Record Officer (ARO) court seeking cancellation of the 1996 transfer and restoration of the land to the government.
On December 27, 2021, ARO Bhan Singh declared the 1996 order illegal and void. As a result, the land was vested in the Uttar Pradesh government. The court also recommended action under Sections 166 and 167 of the Zamindari Abolition Act against the then survey naib-tehsildar Krishna Kumar Singh, who has since retired. However, the court did not recommend any action against MRVT, observing that no forgery had been committed in the transaction.
One of the most controversial findings of The Indian Express investigation was that close relatives of several officials connected with revenue administration or land inquiries had themselves purchased land from MRVT while the matter was under official examination.
Among them was Divisional Commissioner M.P. Agrawal, whose father-in-law Keshav Prasad Agrawal bought 2,530 square metres of land from MRVT in December 2020 for ₹31 lakh. On the same day, Agrawal's brother-in-law Anand Vardhan purchased another 1,260 square metres for ₹15.5 lakh. When The Indian Express contacted him, Agrawal reportedly said he did "not remember anything" about the transaction. On the other hand, his father-in-law also maintained that the purchase was made using his own money to settle in Ayodhya after retirement and said the Commissioner had no role in the deal.
Another transaction involved Tripti Gupta, wife of Atul Gupta, who is the brother-in-law of then Chief Revenue Officer Purushottam Das Gupta. She, along with another buyer, purchased over 1,100 square metres of land from MRVT in October 2021 for ₹21.88 lakh.
Similarly, Mahima Thakur, sister-in-law of then DIG Ayodhya Deepak Kumar, purchased over 1,000 square metres of land from MRVT in September 2021. Deepak Kumar denied any involvement and said his relatives had purchased the land after selling property in Kushinagar.
See Also: Ram Mandir Donation Probe: 4 Major Discrepancies Found by UP Govt's SIT, No FIR Yet
The investigation also listed several other buyers linked to government posts. BJP MLA Indra Pratap Tiwari bought more than 2,500 square metres of land in November 2019, while a trust associated with him purchased another large parcel on the same day. Retired IAS officer Umadhar Dwivedi also bought land from MRVT in October 2021 and later said he was unaware of any pending dispute regarding the property.
The controversy extended beyond MRVT transactions as The Indian Express reported that Ayodhya MLA Ved Prakash Gupta's nephew Tarun Mittal bought multiple land parcels after the Supreme Court verdict, including one valued at ₹4 crore in Gonda district. The MLA maintained that he had not personally purchased land but had encouraged people to invest in Ayodhya due to future development.
Further, Ayodhya Mayor Rishikesh Upadhyay also purchased land in September 2019, according to the report. Other buyers named in the investigation included relatives of former SDM Ayush Chaudhary, Circle Officer Arvind Chaurasia, State Information Commissioner Harshvardhan Shahi, State OBC Commission member Balram Maurya and relatives of local revenue officials.
The detailed investigation by Shyamlal Yadav also highlighted another separate land transaction that generated widespread controversy in 2021. In that case, a plot reportedly purchased for nearly ₹2 crore was sold to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust shortly afterwards for ₹18.5 crore, leading to allegations of an unusually sharp increase in price.
Following these reports, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered an inquiry into the land transactions in December 2021. An inquiry report was also submitted shortly after in 2022. Those named in the Express investigation consistently denied any wrongdoing. Most said the purchases were made from personal savings for residential, business, retirement, or religious purposes. MRVT trustee Salikram Mishra also stated that the trust had engaged retired revenue officials to ensure legal compliance during land transactions.
Details of the 2022 inquiry report were never made public. No action was taken against any officials or relatives named in the investigation nor any FIR was filed. The case still remains unresolved as the mainstream spotlight faded from it. With the SIT now probing alleged irregularities involving Ram Mandir donations, these earlier land controversies are once again being discussed as an example of inefficient systems set up by the government.
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