Supreme Court Issues Notice Over Alleged Donations Misappropriation at Ram Temple Trust

The Supreme Court issued a notice on Monday, July 13, to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. This notice was prompted by petitions requesting a fair investigation into the alleged misappropriation of donations intended for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The bench, comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohan, directed the Uttar Pradesh Special Investigation Team (SIT) to submit a status report on the progress of their investigation into the alleged theft of donations. Tushar Mehta, the Solicitor General of India, representing both the central and state governments, stated that the status report would be filed in a sealed envelope.

The next hearing in this matter is set for July 20, during which the court will consider the petitions and review the findings of the SIT investigation. One of the petitioners, Narendra Kumar Goswami, has filed a petition in the Supreme Court requesting a CBI investigation into the case. He has also called for an audit of the financial dealings of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), which oversees the management of the temple's operations. Ajay Kumar Rai and Dinesh Kumar Yadav have also submitted similar petitions. In addition to the demand for a CBI investigation under the Supreme Court's supervision, a third petition filed by RJD MP Sudhakar Singh seeks a forensic audit of the entire financial operations of the temple trust.

Concerns regarding the misappropriation of donations surfaced during the counting of offerings at the Ram Temple in the first week of June. Following recommendations from the temple trust, the Uttar Pradesh government established a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the matter. The SIT includes Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, Inspector General of Police Kiran S, and Special Secretary (Finance) Neel Ratan. Initial evidence of embezzlement was uncovered by the SIT, leading to the registration of an FIR. So far, eight individuals associated with the temple's donation counting process have been arrested. According to the SIT, violations of procedures were observed in 45 days of CCTV footage.

Investigators allege that the accused exploited weak monitoring and inadequate scrutiny of cash movements within the counting hall. The report indicates that theft occurred at least 70 times during this period. It also mentions the recovery of approximately ₹78.94 lakh from some employees before the investigation and ₹2.25 lakh from a bathroom connected to the counting room.