The Supreme Court on Monday closed a batch of petitions seeking an independent investigation into the alleged embezzlement and theft of donations received at the Ayodhya Ram Mandir after the Uttar Pradesh government informed the Court that a chargesheet had been filed in the case.
A Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana directed the Judicial Magistrate concerned to proceed with the matter in accordance with law. It also permitted the petitioners, who had sought a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities, to assist the trial court in view of the public interest involved.
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“It is not a simple case of an accused versus the State. It is a case where some element of public interest is also involved. Therefore, we will grant you, like the law now permits the victims of crime, to assist the Court. Since there is an element of public interest involved, the petitioner is granted liberty to assist the Court of learned Judicial Magistrate on the same premise as the law enables a victim of crime to assist the Court,” CJI stated.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State of Uttar Pradesh submitted that the chargesheet had been filed and placed details of the investigation before the Court. He submitted that the investigation had traced suspicious deposits in the bank accounts of the accused and investments in properties allegedly purchased using the misappropriated money.
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“We went back in time to see how much money was deposited. Some of them have invested in property. For example, the sale deed shows that a property was purchased for ₹15 lakh. But the property is worth ₹50 lakh. So the balance was obviously paid in cash, and the cash must have been generated through this because he has no other source of income,” he submitted.
The Supreme Court had earlier directed the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT), with a forensic auditor as a member, to investigate the alleged theft and misappropriation of donations at the temple. The investigation was being monitored by the Court through periodic status reports.
The SIT had identified 105 instances of unauthorised removal or concealment of currency from the donation-counting room through an examination of CCTV footage. The investigation had also identified eight accused persons and traced suspicious deposits and assets allegedly linked to the proceeds of the theft.
The Court had initially been approached through a batch of petitions seeking a CBI-led investigation into the alleged embezzlement of donations made to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. The petitioners had also sought a comprehensive probe into the handling of donations and offerings received at the temple. With the chargesheet having been filed, the Supreme Court closed the petitions and left the matter to proceed before the competent Magistrate.