Supreme Court closes Ram Mandir donation theft pleas after police file chargesheet

The Supreme Court on Monday closed the batch of petitions over the alleged theft of donations meant for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, after it was told that the police had filed a chargesheet in the case.

The bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana refused to hand the probe to the CBI, which the petitioners had asked for. Instead, it allowed the police Special Investigation Team, which now includes a forensic auditor, to continue its investigation.

With the chargesheet in, the matter now rests with the trial court. The bench said the petitioners can assist the trial court in the way the law allows victims of crime to help a court, and directed the trial court to proceed according to law.

What the SIT found

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state, took the court through the money trail. The SIT found 105 instances of unauthorised removal of cash and suspicious deposits linked to eight accused.

Mehta said some of the accused had invested the money or put it in bank accounts. He gave one example: a property whose sale deed showed ₹15 lakh, though it was worth about ₹50 lakh, with the balance allegedly paid in cash that, he said, could not have come from any other source of income. The bench had asked for a copy of the chargesheet.

The 105 figure is the same count of thefts the Uttar Pradesh government had placed before the court in September, when it said an analysis of temple CCTV footage had picked up the incidents and promised a chargesheet within days.

What happens next

Monday’s order ends the Supreme Court’s watch over the investigation. The case of the eight accused will now be tried in the trial court, and the SIT can file further reports there as its forensic audit of the money goes on.