Supreme Court to hear pleas seeking probe into Ram temple donations theft row on July 20

The Supreme Court is set to hear on July 20 a batch of pleas seeking a fair and time-bound probe into the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

As per the apex court’s cause list for July 20, four separate pleas related to the issue would come up for hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana.

On July 13, the top court agreed to hear these pleas and directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the matter, to submit a status report before it.

The Bench had also issued notice to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust seeking its response in the matter.

“Since it is averred in some of the writ petitions that some FIRs have already been registered and an SIT has been constituted to investigate the matter, we direct the SIT constituted by the State of Uttar Pradesh to submit a status report before this court,” the top court had said.

Narendra Kumar Goswami, one of the petitioners in the case, moved the top court seeking a CBI probe in the case.

He has also sought a Comptroller and Auditor General audit of the finances of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Theerth Kshetra Trust, which manages the affairs of the Ram temple.

Ajay Kumar Rai and Dinesh Kumar Yadav, who have filed one of the pleas in the top court, have said that a CBI-led multi-disciplinary SIT should investigate the alleged financial irregularities and other purported illegalities concerning the affairs and administration of the temple trust.

Besides seeking a Supreme Court-monitored CBI probe, the third petition filed by RJD MP Sudhakar Singh has sought a forensic audit of the entire finances of the Trust.

Another petition filed by ‘Hindu Dharma Parishad’ has sought an apex court-monitored investigation into the allegations.

On June 13, the Uttar Pradesh government constituted the SIT on a request from the temple trust following allegations of misappropriation of donations received at the Ram temple.

The SIT comprises Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, Inspector General of Police Kiran S. and Special Secretary (Finance) Neel Ratan.