Bail plea of temple manager arrested for embezzlement rejected

A court here Wednesday rejected the bail application of a manager of Goverdhan's renowned Daan-Ghati temple who was arrested on charges of embezzlement of temple fund.

Daal Chandra Chaudhary was arrested on Tuesday evening.

"Since he has been booked under sections 409 and 320 of Indian Penal Code his application was automatically rejected by ACJM Vimal Verma as section 409 IPC entails life imprisonment," senior Advocate Nand Kishor Upmanyu, the counsel for complainant, said.

Section 409 deals with criminal breach of trust by a public servant, banker, merchant or an agent and entails life imprisonment. Section 320 deal with punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt.

Upmanyu said he would present his arguments Thursday in the court of district judge when the bail application would be moved in the higher court.

Chaudhary was arrested on the basis of an FIR filed on May 25 by Sri Giriraj Sevak Samiti Goverdhan Secretary Rama Kaushik, Deputy SP Kailash Chandra Pandey said.

He said the manager was presented before ACJM Verma who rejected his bail application.

According to the FIR, the accused was involved in alleged embezzlement of fund to the tune of 7.44 crore from the seva contract account of the temple.

Kaushik had complained about the conduct of the manager with not only the district administration but had also moved the Human Rights commission and the NGT.

The Daan-Ghati temple is one of the two main temples of Goverdhan parikrama.