'Misleading': Kedarnath Temple Committee rejects Rs 125-cr 'gold-plating' scam claim
A senior priest of the Kedarnath temple on June 15 alleged a multi-crore scam in the gold plating of the shrine's inner walls. In a video, the priest, Santosh Trivedi, said the temple's sanctum sanctorum has been covered with brass plates in the name of gold plating. He claimed that Rs 125 crore was embezzled in the name of gold plating.
- Jun 19, 2023,
- Updated Jun 19, 2023 7:45 PM IST
The Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) on Sunday dismissed the claims that gold worth Rs 125 crore turned into brass in Kedarnath.
A senior priest of the Kedarnath temple on June 15 alleged a multi-crore scam in the gold plating of the shrine's inner walls. In a video, the priest, Santosh Trivedi, said the temple's sanctum sanctorum has been covered with brass plates in the name of gold plating. He claimed that Rs 125 crore was embezzled in the name of gold plating.
Former Kedarnath MLA Manoj Rawat also shared a video and said an attempt was made again to make gold by polishing the brass plates.
However, the temple committee on Sunday rejected these claims saying this was a 'misleading campaign' by petty politicians to tarnish the image of Kedarnath Dham.
"The campaign is part of a vicious political conspiracy to tarnish the image of Kedarnath Dham. It has been hatched by petty politicians who are envious of the record rise in the number of pilgrims visiting Kedarnath over the past couple of years," BKTC Chairman Ajendra Ajay said in a statement.
Ajay said the gold plating of the walls of the temple's sanctum sanctorum was done by a donor from Maharashtra with due permission from the BKTC under the supervision of Archaeological Survey of India experts. The permission to the donor to carry out the exercise was given under the BKTC Act 1939, he said.
The donor got copper plates prepared by his jewellers which were then gold plated by his own goldsmiths and used to cover the walls of the temple's sanctum sanctorum (Garbhgriha), the committee chairman said, adding that the entire work was done by the donor and the committee had no direct role to play in it.
Ajay also said that after the completion of the work, official bills and vouchers for copper and gold plates were submitted to the committee which entered them in its stock book. The gold plating of the temple walls from inside was done by way of donation and neither the donor nor any firm put forward any condition before the BKTC for this.
According to the committee chairman, the donor did not ask for a certificate under section 80G of the Income Tax Act from the BKTC either. He said the same donor had carried out gold plating of the Badrinath temple in 2005. Gold plates given by the donor weighed 23777.800 gram worth Rs 14.38 crore and copper plates weighed 1,001.300 kg worth Rs 29 lakh, he said.
The clarification from the temple committee came a day after former UP Chief Miniter Akhilesh Yadav in a tweet said the allegations of applying brass plating instead of gold in the Kedarnath temple was a very sensitive matter and that it should be investigated. "Layers of lies should be removed by conducting a high-level inquiry into this conspiracy," he said while sharing the video of Santosh Trivedi.
In the video, Trivedi can be heard saying: "A few months ago, gold plating was done inside the sanctum sanctorum. But months later, that gold was turned into copper. Why wasn't it probed? Who are the officials responsible for it?" He further alleged that Rs 125 crore has been embezzled in the name of gold.
Former Kedarnath MLA Manoj Rawat too shared a video and said that an attempt was made again to make gold by polishing the brass plates. He said the government should clear the situation. "Sanatan Dharma people all over the world are indignant and pained by this deception happening in the temple of Baba Kedarnath ji," he tweeted.
(With inputs from PTI)
The Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) on Sunday dismissed the claims that gold worth Rs 125 crore turned into brass in Kedarnath.
A senior priest of the Kedarnath temple on June 15 alleged a multi-crore scam in the gold plating of the shrine's inner walls. In a video, the priest, Santosh Trivedi, said the temple's sanctum sanctorum has been covered with brass plates in the name of gold plating. He claimed that Rs 125 crore was embezzled in the name of gold plating.
Former Kedarnath MLA Manoj Rawat also shared a video and said an attempt was made again to make gold by polishing the brass plates.
However, the temple committee on Sunday rejected these claims saying this was a 'misleading campaign' by petty politicians to tarnish the image of Kedarnath Dham.
"The campaign is part of a vicious political conspiracy to tarnish the image of Kedarnath Dham. It has been hatched by petty politicians who are envious of the record rise in the number of pilgrims visiting Kedarnath over the past couple of years," BKTC Chairman Ajendra Ajay said in a statement.
Ajay said the gold plating of the walls of the temple's sanctum sanctorum was done by a donor from Maharashtra with due permission from the BKTC under the supervision of Archaeological Survey of India experts. The permission to the donor to carry out the exercise was given under the BKTC Act 1939, he said.
The donor got copper plates prepared by his jewellers which were then gold plated by his own goldsmiths and used to cover the walls of the temple's sanctum sanctorum (Garbhgriha), the committee chairman said, adding that the entire work was done by the donor and the committee had no direct role to play in it.
Ajay also said that after the completion of the work, official bills and vouchers for copper and gold plates were submitted to the committee which entered them in its stock book. The gold plating of the temple walls from inside was done by way of donation and neither the donor nor any firm put forward any condition before the BKTC for this.
According to the committee chairman, the donor did not ask for a certificate under section 80G of the Income Tax Act from the BKTC either. He said the same donor had carried out gold plating of the Badrinath temple in 2005. Gold plates given by the donor weighed 23777.800 gram worth Rs 14.38 crore and copper plates weighed 1,001.300 kg worth Rs 29 lakh, he said.
The clarification from the temple committee came a day after former UP Chief Miniter Akhilesh Yadav in a tweet said the allegations of applying brass plating instead of gold in the Kedarnath temple was a very sensitive matter and that it should be investigated. "Layers of lies should be removed by conducting a high-level inquiry into this conspiracy," he said while sharing the video of Santosh Trivedi.
In the video, Trivedi can be heard saying: "A few months ago, gold plating was done inside the sanctum sanctorum. But months later, that gold was turned into copper. Why wasn't it probed? Who are the officials responsible for it?" He further alleged that Rs 125 crore has been embezzled in the name of gold.
Former Kedarnath MLA Manoj Rawat too shared a video and said that an attempt was made again to make gold by polishing the brass plates. He said the government should clear the situation. "Sanatan Dharma people all over the world are indignant and pained by this deception happening in the temple of Baba Kedarnath ji," he tweeted.
(With inputs from PTI)