Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Nov 1: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a batch of petitions seeking a court-monitored investigation into alleged financial irregularities in the handling of donations and offerings received by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
According to the causelist uploaded on the apex court's official website, the matters are listed before a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana.
The petitions include a writ petition filed by advocate Narendra Kumar Goswami, a criminal writ petition filed by petitioner-in-person Ajay Kumar Rai, a separate plea moved by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Sudhakar Singh and another petition filed by Hindu Dharma Parishad.
At the previous hearing on September 21, the Uttar Pradesh government had informed the Supreme Court that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged irregularities had substantially completed its investigation and would file the charge sheet within the next two days.
Appearing for the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had informed the CJI-led Bench that a status report had been submitted in a sealed cover.
Mehta had further told the court that the deadline for filing the charge sheet expired on September 25 and that it would be filed within the stipulated period.
The state government had submitted that the investigation was substantially complete and that the charge sheet would be filed before the competent court after the remaining formalities were completed.
Taking the submission on record, the Supreme Court had permitted the Sessions Judge concerned to pass an appropriate order in accordance with law.
The status report submitted to the apex court detailed how the SIT analysed CCTV footage and other material to identify the accused, besides examining records relating to donations and offerings.
According to the report, the analysis of CCTV footage had revealed 105 incidents of theft of donations at the temple. It also stated that receipts for valuable items received as offerings were generated through software and that the valuables were kept in State Bank of India (SBI) lockers.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had directed the Uttar Pradesh government to reconstitute the SIT probing the alleged irregularities and ensure a fair, speedy and qualitative investigation.
The state government subsequently informed the apex court that the reconstituted SIT was headed by Inspector General of Police Kiran S., with DIG Ayodhya Somen Verma and SSP Ayodhya Dr Gaurav Grover as members.
Taking note of the allegations of misappropriation of trust funds, the CJI-led Bench had also indicated that a forensic auditor should be associated with the investigation.
"Since the nature of the investigation involves alleged misappropriation of trust funds, the Solicitor General has fairly agreed that a forensic auditor shall also be associated as a member of the SIT," the Supreme Court had recorded in its order.
The petitions seek a court-monitored probe into the alleged financial irregularities, along with the preservation of donation-related records, greater transparency in accounting for offerings and a comprehensive forensic audit of the Trust's finances.