NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to file a status report on the investigation into the alleged embezzlement of donations made to the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Bar and Bench reported.
The apex court also sought a response from the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on petitions seeking to transfer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). It issued notice only to the Trust.
A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant accepted an oral request by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for both the Union and Uttar Pradesh governments, not to issue formal judicial notices to them. The court confined the formal notice to the Trust.
Mehta informed the court that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had been constituted, the investigation was underway, and arrests had already been made. He also offered to submit a status report in a sealed cover.
The Bench accepted the request and directed the state government to file the report by July 20, The Hindu reported. It also asked the government to provide details of the composition of the SIT.
The three-member SIT was constituted on June 13 at the request of the temple trust after Opposition leaders and a whistleblower raised concerns over the handling of donations at the temple. The team is expected to submit its final report on July 22.
In its preliminary report, submitted to the Uttar Pradesh Home Department on June 23, the SIT identified 70 instances in which cash-counting staff allegedly concealed bundles of currency notes and loose cash in their clothes, pockets and shoes, Scroll reported.
The report alleged that donations were stolen during the counting process, with staff routinely hiding cash on their bodies and leaving the premises with it, while safeguards intended to prevent such thefts were not enforced. It also flagged serious lapses by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and the State Bank of India, the trust’s banker.
The report held trustee Anil Mishra, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader, responsible for the dilution of security protocols in the counting room. However, it did not recommend any action against him.
