The Supreme Court on Monday warned all parties against politicizing the probe into the alleged misappropriation of donations received at the Ram temple in Ayodhya and noted that the ongoing police probe should be supervised by the same three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) that first uncovered prima facie evidence of the alleged fraud.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalia Bagchi and V Mohana asked the Uttar Pradesh government for instructions on reconstitution of the special court. The court is scheduled to hear the case again on July 27, where it will examine the progress of the investigation and decide whether additional directions are needed.
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“Don’t play politics”
“Don’t play politics…don’t politicize the case. It is a simple and prima facie case of commission of crime and investigations should be conducted to their logical conclusion in a fair, impartial and impartial manner,” the bench said while hearing petitions seeking an independent probe into the alleged financial irregularities in the affairs of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Uttar Pradesh government and the Centre, informed the court that the investigation is progressing, eight people have been arrested and a case report has been submitted in a sealed cover. He said that although the special investigation team has completed its preliminary investigation, the local police are currently conducting the criminal investigation.
However, the bench suggested that the same senior officials who conducted the initial probe should supervise the ongoing investigation, referring to the committee that includes Lucknow District Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, Inspector General of Police Kiran S and Special Secretary (Finance) Neil Ratan.
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SIT was formed on June 13
Mehta, assisted by Additional Senior Solicitor General Sharan Dev Singh Thakur, said the state could consider such an arrangement and would come back with instructions on the next date.
The Special Investigation Team was constituted on June 13 at the request of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and submitted its preliminary report on June 23. Based on its findings, the Ayodhya Police registered an FIR against eight people allegedly involved in misappropriation of donations during the counting process. The eight have since been arrested, and approx $80 lakh allegedly diverted from temple offerings were recovered.
The session also witnessed proposals to improve transparency in dealing with donations. Senior advocate Devadat Kamat, who appeared for RJD MP Sudhakar Singh, urged the court to direct the trust to publish records of donations received against official receipts so that devotees can check whether their contributions have reached the temple.
The bench agreed that proper records needed to be kept, and noted: “Not just on the website… there must be a well-maintained record.”
Kamat also suggested publishing an inventory of gold, silver and other valuables donated by devotees. While the court said that practical difficulties must be taken into account, it noted that wherever receipts are issued, proper records must necessarily be kept. Mehta assured the bench that the state had no objection to the measures to improve transparency and said stocks of valuables had already been maintained.
The controversy emerged in June after allegations that donations worth several million were withdrawn before being deposited into bank accounts designated for the temple. Amid mounting pressure, the fund’s former general secretary Champat Rai and former trustee Anil Mishra resigned on June 6 with the fund announcing a three-member committee to search for a new CEO.
