Police personnel detain Samajwadi Party workers at a recent protest in Lucknow against the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ayodhya’s Ram temple.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Supreme Court on Monday (July 20, 2026) proposed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of senior police officers to probe the alleged embezzlement of Ram Temple donations even as it cautioned petitioners against politicising a “simple case of commission of offence”.
The petitioners have demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe and publication of the complete financial details, including foreign contributions, of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
The hearing before a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant began with Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, for the Uttar Pradesh government, informing it that a status report of the investigation had been filed in the top court.
Mr. Mehta briefly said eight people had been arrested and it was better not to divulge more details of an active investigation. The confidential report was filed in a sealed cover in the Supreme Court.
The Chief Justice enquired whether the SIT mentioned in the report was conducting the probe. Mr. Mehta replied that the State Police was investigating under the oversight of the SIT.
The Chief Justice, speaking for the Bench, suggested re-constituting the SIT to directly investigate the case. Mr. Mehta agreed to consult the Director-General of Police of the State.
It was at this point that the Chief Justice turned to petitioners with a stern observation to not “play politics with the case. “We are cautioning… It is a simple case of commission of offence,” the CJI said.
MP seeks transparency
Appearing for Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Sudhakar Singh, senior advocate Devadatt Kamat urged the court to direct the Temple Trust to publish records of the donations made since inception, and be transparent towards devotees.
“Devotees have given silver and gold. There are reports that these have vanished. There should be an inventory. It should be published,” Mr. Kamat submitted.
The Chief Justice raised the possibility of such direction giving someone impetus to falsely claim donation of diamonds, etc. “We have to look at the practical side,” the Chief Justice said, while agreeing that an inventory of valuable offerings must be maintained and accounted for.
Hearing next week
The Bench listed the case for detailed hearing and orders on July 27.
During the previous hearing on July 13, the court directed the State to file a status report on the ongoing probe into the case and sought the Trust’s response to petitions seeking to hand over the case to the CBI.
Mr. Singh’s petition has sought a direction to the Trust to produce a complete statement of cash donations, bank transfers, digital payments, foreign contributions, gold, silver and other valuables, together with the particulars of their accounting, custody and utilisation since its inception.
Another petition filed by Supreme Court advocate N.K. Goswami has sought the protection of electronic evidence like CCTV footage, which could be “quietly lost”, erased, overwritten or corrupted in the coming days.
Published – July 21, 2026 02:17 am IST
