The Supreme Court will hear on July 13 the petition filed demanding investigation into the alleged irregularities in offerings at Shri Ram temple in Ayodhya. The bench of CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice VS Mohana will hear the petition filed. The court has listed for hearing the petition filed by lawyer Ajay Kumar Rai, lawyer Dinesh Kumar Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Sudhakar Singh.
The vacation bench of the last hearing had refused to hear the petition filed early. Supreme Court In the petition filed in, a demand has been made to form a committee under the supervision of CBI and investigate the entire matter, so that it can be found out whether there has been any embezzlement, corruption or financial irregularity in the amount of donation.
This hearing is taking place at a time when the investigation into alleged embezzlement is going on in Uttar Pradesh. On July 7, an Ayodhya court granted one-day police custody to three of the eight accused arrested in the case, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra and Karunesh Pandey. Earlier, on June 29, a local court had sent all eight accused to 14-day judicial custody.
SIT is investigating theft of offerings.
On June 13, on the request of the temple trust, the Uttar Pradesh government had formed a three-member SIT after allegations of misappropriation in donations came to light. The SIT includes Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, Inspector General of Police Kiran S and Special Secretary (Finance) Neel Ratan.
The SIT’s preliminary investigation has pointed to serious security lapses in the counting room of the temple and suggested that the alleged thefts were “systematic” and not isolated but repeated incidents.
According to the report, after viewing CCTV footage, around 70 suspicious incidents took place between April 27 and June 5, in which counting staff were allegedly seen hiding bundles of cash in their clothes, pockets, shoes and other personal belongings.
Politics heated up over theft of offerings
Initial investigation also revealed shortcomings in security arrangements, which included not frisking the staff at the entry and exit points of the counting hall and not proper monitoring of personal belongings. The temple trust member supported the investigation.
Amid the ongoing controversy, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir Trust member Mahant Dinendra Das Maharaj expressed confidence in the investigation and rejected reports that VIP darshan pass IDs of senior officials of the trust were blocked.
The alleged embezzlement has sparked a political controversy in Uttar Pradesh, with opposition parties demanding accountability, while Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has assured strict action against anyone misusing donations meant for the temple.
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