The Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Uttar Pradesh government has submitted a sealed-cover status report before the Supreme Court in connection with the alleged theft and misappropriation of donations received at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya.
The report was placed before the three-judge Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana in compliance with the Court’s earlier direction after it took note of the ongoing investigation into the alleged financial irregularities involving devotees’ donations.
The matter arose from a batch of public interest litigations seeking an independent and court-monitored investigation into the alleged embezzlement of funds and valuables received by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
During the previous hearing on July 13, the Supreme Court noted that multiple First Information Reports (FIRs) had already been registered and that the Uttar Pradesh Government had constituted an SIT to investigate the allegations. In view of the ongoing probe, the Court directed the SIT to file a status report before the next date of hearing.
Appearing for the State, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Court that the investigation was in progress and that the status report would be filed in a sealed cover to avoid prejudice to the investigation. The State also informed the Bench that senior police officers had been included in the SIT to supervise the probe.
The Supreme Court is hearing three separate petitions raising concerns over the alleged misappropriation of donations collected by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
One petition, filed by Advocates Ajay Kumar Rai and Dinesh Kumar Yadav, seeks directions for a fair, impartial and time-bound investigation into the alleged financial irregularities in the functioning and administration of the Trust. The petitioners have sought registration of an FIR and constitution of a multi-disciplinary Special Investigation Team headed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), contending that an independent investigation is necessary to ensure transparency and maintain public confidence.
Another petition, filed under Article 32 of the Constitution by Advocate Narendra Kumar Goswami, seeks a forensic audit of all donations made to the Ram Temple, preservation of physical and electronic evidence relating to temple offerings, and formulation of a nationwide transparency framework governing donations received by temples of national importance.
The plea contends that offerings made by devotees constitute trust property belonging to the deity, which is recognised in law as a juristic person. It further seeks directions to preserve CCTV, DVR and NVR recordings, QR code and UPI payment logs, payment gateway records, hundi registers, counting sheets, bank records, vault access records, inventory registers and other digital and financial evidence to prevent tampering or destruction during the investigation.
The petition further states that preservation of evidence would not interfere with religious practices, rituals, worship or temple administration, as it concerns only the secular aspects of financial management, including receipt, custody, counting, accounting, auditing, inventory control, digital payment verification, bank reconciliation and public accountability.
According to the petitioner, transparency in the management of donations strengthens public faith and promotes constitutional morality, fiduciary responsibility and the rule of law.
The third petition, filed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Member of Parliament Sudhakar Singh through Advocate Satyam Singh Rajput and Advocate-on-Record Jaswanthi A, seeks transfer of the investigation to the CBI under the supervision of the Supreme Court or any other independent agency.
The petition also seeks a direction to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to place before the Court a complete account of all cash donations and valuables received since its constitution on February 5, 2020.
The petitions were filed after an FIR was registered alleging theft and embezzlement of devotees’ donations at the Ram Temple. The police subsequently arrested all eight persons named in the FIR, including the official responsible for cash counting at the temple’s pilgrim facilitation centre.
The accused, identified as Tinnu Yadav, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Manish Yadav, Subhash Srivastava, Karunesh Pandey and Ramshankar Mishra, have been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for offences including criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy.
Investigators suspect that the alleged misappropriation took place over a period through manipulation of the temple’s donation collection and accounting process.
In a related development, the Allahabad High Court had, on July 13, disposed of a public interest litigation seeking a court-monitored CBI investigation into the alleged embezzlement after taking note of the developments in the ongoing investigation.
Subsequently, on July 17, a local court in Ayodhya granted 39 hours’ police custody of two accused to enable investigators to interrogate them further, examine the alleged conspiracy and trace the money trail.
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has denied all allegations, maintaining that the claims are baseless and politically motivated. It has asserted that all donations are properly recorded, accounted for and audited in accordance with the applicable financial and statutory procedures.
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