The Supreme Court on Monday sought a status report from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Uttar Pradesh Government to investigate allegations of misappropriation of donations made to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana was informed that several developments had taken place since the filing of the PIL, including the registration of FIRs and constitution of an SIT. The petitioner also sought directions for preservation of CCTV footage and DVR records, contending that such electronic evidence was susceptible to destruction.
Appearing for the State of Uttar Pradesh, the Solicitor General submitted that an SIT had already been constituted and that the investigation was in progress. It was urged that, at this stage, notice may be confined to the State authorities. Recording the submission, the Court observed:
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“Since it is already stated that some FIRs have been registered and the SIT has been constituted to investigate the matter, we direct the SIT constituted by the State authorities to submit a status report. The status report shall also give the full particulars of the composition of the SIT.”
The Court issued notice to the concerned State authorities and Respondent No. 9 (Shri Ram Janmabhoomi) while dispensing with notice to the remaining respondents for the time being. The matter has been posted for further consideration next Monday.
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