The Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the alleged theft of donation funds at Ayodhya‘s Ram Temple, on Sunday submitted its status report in a sealed cover to the Supreme Court. The report has been filed in the top court ahead of a SC bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant taking up the matter for hearing on Monday.
The Supreme Court will hear on Monday (tomorrow, July 20) four petitions in relation to the Ram Temple donation theft case filed by Advocates Ajay Kumar Rai, Narendra Kumar Goswami, RJD MP Sudharkar Singh, and Hindu Dharma Parishad.
Out of these four, two of them seek a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe in the case, alleging that the government cannot be trusted with a free, fair, and impartial probe.
Ram Temple Trust Next Meet on July 22
Amid the ongoing Ram temple donation embezzlement row, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust will hold a second meeting this month, on July 22.
According to Trust general secretary Krishna Mohan, a special meeting has been scheduled at 3 pm in the Ram temple complex, followed by the regular Trust meeting at 4 pm at Maniram Chawni, the premises of Trust president Nritya Gopal Das.
As per the agenda circulated by Krishna Mohan in a letter to the trustees on July 7, the July 22 meeting will take up confirmation of proceedings of the July 6 meeting as well as the special meeting at 3 pm the same day.
The trustees will also discuss the reconstitution of various committees in accordance with the Trust’s rules and deliberate on the final report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the donation theft, if it is available by then.
The July 6 meeting was the first Trust meeting after the alleged embezzlement of donations came to light. During that meeting, the Trust constituted a special committee to recommend amendments to the Trust deed and framed guidelines for the custody, valuation and disposal of offerings made by devotees. The meeting was initially scheduled to be held at Maniram Chawni but was later shifted to the Ram temple complex.
The proposed discussion on the SIT’s final report assumes significance as the state government had ordered an inquiry into the embezzlement of donations received at the temple.
The controversy has triggered administrative and legal action, with the probe expected to be a key issue before the trustees.
With inputs from PTI