SC issues notice to Ram Temple Trust, seeks SIT status report on donation probe

The Supreme Court issued notice to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and sought a status report from the Uttar Pradesh SIT on petitions alleging financial irregularities in Ram temple donations, while posting the matter for further hearing on July 20

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and sought a status report from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government on a batch of petitions seeking a court-monitored probe into the alleged financial irregularities in the handling of donations and offerings received by the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant directed the SIT to place before the top court a detailed status report, including its composition, and posted the batch of petitions for further hearing on July 20.

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The Bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, passed the order while hearing a batch of petitions, including a writ petition filed by advocate Narendra Kumar Goswami, a criminal writ petition filed by Ajay Kumar Rai and a separate plea moved by RJD MP Sudhakar Singh.

Taking note of the ongoing investigation, the Supreme Court directed the SIT constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government to file a status report before it. “Since some FIRs have already been registered and an SIT has been constituted to investigate, we direct the SIT constituted by the State of Uttar Pradesh to submit a status report before this Court. The status report shall also give full particulars of the composition of the SIT,” the order said.

Appearing on behalf of the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta submitted that notice to the government authorities may not be necessary as they would be assisting the apex court in the matter. SG Mehta informed the CJI Kant-led Bench that the status report would be placed before it in a sealed cover.

When the petitioners requested that a copy of the status report also be furnished to them, the Solicitor General opposed the plea, saying the investigation was still in progress.

Declining the request at this stage, the top court remarked: “We will see later. It’s an ongoing investigation. You know the law. We have passed an order.” The matter has been posted for further consideration on July 20.

The petitions seek a court-monitored investigation into the alleged financial irregularities in the handling of donations and offerings received by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

The writ petition, filed by advocate Narendra Kumar Goswami in his personal capacity, seeks directions for preservation of records and evidence relating to donations made at the Ram Janmabhoomi temple and greater transparency in the administration of temple offerings.

According to the plea, offerings made to a deity in a public temple constitute “sacred trust property” vesting in the deity as a juristic person, and persons handling such offerings are fiduciaries bound by duties of transparency, accountability and preservation.

The petition has sought immediate preservation of all records, CCTV footage and digital logs relating to donations and offerings at the temple, besides seeking a sealed status report of the SIT probe and an independent forensic audit of all donations, offerings and valuable items received by the Trust since its inception.

It has also urged the apex court to direct the formulation of minimum constitutional safeguards for transparent handling of public temple donations and offerings in temples of national importance.

Meanwhile, RJD MP Sudhakar Singh has sought transfer of the ongoing probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the direct monitoring of the Supreme Court. His petition also seeks the appointment of a temporary court-monitored oversight committee of retired judicial officers and financial experts to oversee the Trust’s secular financial affairs, preservation of all financial records, restrictions on major financial decisions pending investigation, a comprehensive forensic audit, and publication of audited financial statements and donation logs on the Trust’s official website.