The Supreme Court on Monday cautioned all parties against politicising the investigation into the alleged embezzlement of donations received at the Ram temple in Ayodhya and indicated 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.
Event Context
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana asked the Uttar Pradesh government to obtain instructions on reconstituting the SIT. The bench will take up the case again on July 27, when it will examine the progress of the investigation decide whether additional directions are required.
“Don’t play politics…Don’t politicise the issue. It is a simple and prima facie case of commission of an offence and investigations have to be taken to their logical end in a fair, impartial and dispassionate manner,” said the bench 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, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government and the Centre, informed the court that the investigation was progressing, eight persons had been arrested, and a status report had been filed in a sealed cover. He submitted that while the SIT had completed its preliminary inquiry, the criminal investigation was presently being conducted by the local police.
The bench, however, suggested that the same senior officials who conducted the preliminary inquiry should supervise the ongoing investigation, referring to the committee comprising Lucknow divisional commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, Inspector General of Police Kiran S and special secretary (Finance) Neel Ratan.
The controversy surfaced in June after allegations that donations worth several crores were siphoned off before being deposited into the temple’s designated bank accounts. Amid mounting pressure, former trust general secretary Champat Rai and former trustee Anil Mishra resigned on June 6 with the trust announcing a three-member panel to search for a new CEO.
Match Outlook
Mehta, assisted by senior additional advocate general Sharan Dev Singh Thakur, said the state could consider such an arrangement and would return with instructions on the next date.
The SIT 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 persons allegedly involved in siphoning off donations during the counting process. All eight have since been arrested, and nearly ₹80 lakh allegedly diverted from temple offerings has been recovered.
The hearing also saw suggestions for improving transparency in the handling of donations. Senior advocate Devadatt Kamat, appearing for RJD MP Sudhakar Singh, urged the court to direct the Trust to publish the records of donations received against the official receipts so that devotees could verify whether their contributions had reached the temple.
The bench agreed that proper records ought to be maintained, observing: “Not only on the website… There must be a well-maintained record.”
Kamat also suggested publication of an inventory of gold, silver and other valuables donated by devotees. While the court said practical difficulties would have to be borne in mind, it observed that wherever receipts were issued, proper records should necessarily be maintained. Mehta assured the bench that the state had no objection to measures aimed at improving transparency and said that inventories of valuables were already being preserved.
