The Supreme Court on Monday asked the State of Uttar Pradesh to include a forensic auditor in the Special Investigation Team constituted by the State to investigate the allegations of embezzlement of the donations received by the Ayodhya Ram Temple Trust. The court also directed the SIT to submit a status report regarding its ongoing investigation.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana was dealing with a bunch of petitions seeking an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the allegations of embezzlement of donations received for the Ayodhya Ram Mandir and audit of the temple Trust finances.
Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, for the State of UP, told the court that a SIT headed by S Kiran IPS, Lucknow IG, and comprising a Dy Inspector General and a Senior Superintendent of Police has been constituted.
The SG accepted the suggestion made by the bench that a forensic auditor be associated with the SIT. Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat, appearing in one of the petitions, submitted that the SIT must audit the receipts of donations received from across the country for the Ram Mandir construction. “People have given 500 rupees 1000 rupees. Ultimately, there are reports that the money has not reached the Trust. Whatever the Trust got may be showed on a website so that people will know that there money has reached,” he said.
The CJI said that the SIT will have access to all records. “Let SIT give its report. We are not closing this. Remedial actions will have to be taken. You can note down some steps which have to be taken to ensure transparency. There are senior officers, a forensic auditor shall be there,” the CJI said.
Kamat proposed that a former Supreme Court judge should be appointed the monitor the investigation. The SG said that such a direction may not be necessary since the present bench of three judges is overseeing the SIT probe.
The CJI said the present focus is on a speedy and qualitative investigation. “Right now you all note down the issues. Right now our entire focus is on investigation. We must have a speedy and qualitative investigation. We are asking them to submit a report to us. The rest we will decide at a later stage,” the CJI said.
One of the petitions was filed by Narendra Kumar Goswami, petitioner-in-person, seeking an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the matter. He also seeks an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of the finances of the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Theerth Kshetra Trust, the trust which is managing the Ayodhya Ram temple.
The second petition was filed by Ajay Kumar Rai and Dinesh Kumar Yadav, also petitioners-in-person, seeking similar direction for CBI probe. The petition seeks directions to the Union Government, the Uttar Pradesh Government and the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to take appropriate measures to safeguard the interests of devotees and donors.
The third petition was filed by RJD MP Sudhakar Singh who seeks a forensic audit of the entire finances of the temple trust in the light of the scam, in addition to CBI probe under the monitoring of the Supreme Court.
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