Supreme Court declines urgent hearing of plea on Ram Mandir donation theft

The Supreme Court on Monday declined urgent hearing in a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the financial irregularities and missing funds at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

Advocate NK Goswami mentioned the matter before a vacation bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Sheel Nagu.

Goswami submitted that electronic evidence in the matter may be tampered with and urged the Court for an early hearing so that directions can be passed for preservation of evidence.

However, the Court declined to grant urgent listing and asked the petitioners to furnish a copy of the petition to the court's registry. The bench said that the matter would be examined in due course.

The petition, filed by Advocates Ajay Kumar Rai and Dinesh Kumar Yadav, arraigned Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, the State of Uttar Pradesh and the Union of India as respondents.

As per the plea, allegations of dishonest misappropriation, diversion and embezzlement of public donations meant for the construction of the Ram Temple warrant registration of a regular case and an independent, time-bound investigation.

A special investigation team (SIT) constituted by the Uttar Pradesh is already probing the allegations.

However, as per the plea, the SIT lacks the forensic and investigative infrastructure required for a complex financial probe and that it commenced inquiry without registration of a first information report (FIR), leaving the evidentiary value of its findings vulnerable to challenge.

Drawing a parallel with the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam adulterated ghee case, the petition referred to the Supreme Court's October 2024 order in Subramanian Swamy v. State of Andhra Pradesh, where the State SIT was substituted with an independent multidisciplinary SIT headed by the CBI.

Hence, the petitioners said that interim directions should be issued to the Trust and the State to preserve all physical, electronic and financial records, including donation registers, ledgers, CCTV footage, bank records and software databases. A prayer was also made to restrain any party from tampering with such material pending disposal of the petition.

The matter is expected to be listed for hearing after the summer vacation.

[Read Live Coverage]