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Supreme Court to hear pleas over Ram Temple Trust donations today
A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant takes up petitions seeking a court-monitored probe and a forensic audit of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust's finances.
Key points
- The Supreme Court will hear four petitions on the Ram Temple Trust's finances on Monday.
- Uttar Pradesh told the court in September that CCTV footage showed 105 incidents of theft of donations.
- The court had earlier ordered a forensic auditor to join the SIT.
The Supreme Court is due on Monday to hear a set of petitions alleging financial irregularities in the handling of donations and offerings made to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, the body that runs the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
The cases are listed before a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana. The petitioners want a court-monitored investigation, the preservation of all records linked to donations, more open accounting of offerings and a full forensic audit of the trust’s finances.
There are four petitions. Advocate Narendra Kumar Goswami has filed a writ petition, Ajay Kumar Rai is arguing his criminal writ petition in person, and Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Sudhakar Singh and the Hindu Dharma Parishad have filed separate pleas.
What the state has told the court
When the cases were last heard on 21 September, the Uttar Pradesh government said a Special Investigation Team had substantially completed its probe and would file a charge sheet within two days. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the state, said a status report had been handed over in a sealed cover and that the deadline for the charge sheet ran out on 25 September. Whether it has since been filed has not been made public.
The status report said an analysis of CCTV footage had found 105 incidents of theft of donations at the temple. It said receipts for valuable offerings were generated through software and that the valuables were kept in State Bank of India lockers. The bench allowed the sessions judge concerned to pass orders in line with the law.
A reshaped SIT
The court had earlier told Uttar Pradesh to reconstitute the SIT. It is now headed by Inspector General of Police Kiran S, with Ayodhya’s DIG Somen Verma and SSP Gaurav Grover as members. Since the case concerns alleged misappropriation of trust money, the court recorded that “the Solicitor General has fairly agreed that a forensic auditor shall also be associated as a member of the SIT.”
Monday’s hearing is the first since that order.