Activist abbot Phra Buddha Isara on Monday asked the National Reform Council (NRC) and the government to examine the assets of Supreme Sangha Councillors and Wat Phra Dhammakaya.
The move followed the resolution of the Supreme Sangha Council (SSC) last Friday that Phra Dhammachayo, abbot of Thailand's richest temple, Wat Phra Dhammakaya in Pathum Thani province, would not be expelled from the monkhood.
Phra Buddha Isara filed his written proposal for an inquiry with Paibul Nititawan, head of the NRC's Buddhism protection committee. He also asked the committee to revive all legal cases concerning Wat Phra Dhammakaya. This involves over 50 cases, including embezzlement charges against Phra Dhammachayo.
The abbot of Wat Or Noi in Nakhon Pathom province also proposed a Buddhism protection organisation be formed to share the authority of the SSC and that people and monks who understand Buddhist doctrines well should sit on the organisation.
Phra Buddha Isara sent a similar request to PM's Office Minister ML Panadda Diskul and the Department of Special Investigation.
Last Friday, the SSC ruled that Phra Dhammachayo was innocent although he had been reluctant to transfer money and land held in his name worth over 900 million baht to the temple. The council based the ruling on the fact that Phra Dhammachayo had already made the transfers.
The ruling dealt a blow to the recommendation of late supreme patriarch His Holiness Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara in 1999 that Phra Dhammachayo had committed a grave sin by distorting Buddhist teachings and being reluctant to hand over assets that followers had donated to the temple.
The SSC did not explain the issue of distorting Buddhism doctrine.