Members face ₹5 lakh penalty for taking up the case; Bar also demands key figures vacate Ayodhya within 72 hours
The Faizabad Bar Association has drawn a hard legal line around the Ram Temple donation controversy, voting unanimously at a general body meeting on Monday to bar its members from defending anyone accused in the alleged embezzlement of funds belonging to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust.
Any lawyer who defies the resolution faces a steep ₹5 lakh fine. Bar Association President Kalika Prasad Mishra’s announcement, captured on video and widely shared, drew immediate applause from members in attendance.
The Association went further, demanding that Champat Rai recently resigned general secretary of the Trust along with fellow trustee Anil Mishra and Gopal Rao, leave Ayodhya within three days. Lawyers threatened to blockade the city if the ultimatum went unheeded.
Secretary Shailendra Jaiswal framed the decision in moral terms, stating that the alleged theft of temple offerings had wounded the sentiments of the legal fraternity.
The move carries historical resonance, the Bar Association adopted a near-identical stance in 2005, refusing to represent those accused in a terrorist attack on the Ram Mandir.
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