The Supreme Court on Monday closed its monitoring of the alleged theft of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya after the Uttar Pradesh government informed it that a charge sheet had been filed against eight accused, allowing petitioners to assist the trial court in the proceedings in view of the public interest involved.
In July, the Supreme Court constituted a second special investigation team (SIT), headed by Lucknow range inspector general of police Kiran S, to investigate allegations of pilferage of donations and irregularities in the handling of valuables at the temple.
The charge sheet, running into more than 60,000 pages, was filed before the anti-corruption court in Ayodhya in September. The court was also informed about a fresh petition filed by the Ram Janmabhoomi Case Trust seeking some directions with regard to the Supreme Court’s 2019 judgment that paved the way for the construction of the temple. This plea sought an independent, technically qualified survey and verification of the land adjudicated in the 2019 judgment, including production of revenue, cadastral, survey, acquisition, and planning records, to determine whether the present Ram Janmabhoomi temple stands on the exact adjudicated premises. The investigation also covered specific donations referred to in media reports, including 200 kg and 38.288 kg silver bricks, a silver necklace, a pair of charan paduka and a donated copy of the Ramcharitmanas, the court was earlier informed.
A bench, comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, directed the judicial magistrate to proceed with the case in accordance with law, making it clear that the top court’s order should not prejudice any party as it had expressed no opinion on the merits of the allegations. The order came after solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government along with additional advocate general and senior counsel Sharan Dev Singh Thakur, informed the bench that the investigation had been completed and the charge sheet filed.
“Since there is an element of public interest involved, liberty is granted to the petitioner to assist the court of judicial magistrate as the law enables the victims of crime to also assist the court,” the bench said in its order, disposing of the writ petition and connected matters.
