The Supreme Court on Monday indicated it would consider a request from the Uttar Pradesh government’s counsel to defer the hearing on petitions seeking a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into alleged financial irregularities concerning donations for the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Information was available with The Chenab Times that a bench, presided over by Chief Justice Surya Kant and including Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, was informed by a lawyer representing the state government that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was unavailable. Mr. Mehta is reportedly part of a delegation attending a function at the United Nations.
The lawyer requested the bench to schedule the hearing for the following week, citing the Solicitor General’s absence. The court bench acknowledged the request and agreed to consider it.
Earlier, on July 27, the apex court had taken note of the formation of a four-member SIT, led by Inspector General of Police Kiran S, to investigate the allegations of embezzlement of funds collected as donations for the Ram temple. At that time, the court had also directed the Uttar Pradesh government to include a forensic auditor in the probe team to ensure transparency and remedial actions.
The Supreme Court had emphasized that steps would be taken to guarantee transparency in the financial dealings. The SIT was instructed to submit a status report on its findings within a fortnight.
This development follows a prior directive on July 20, when the same bench had asked the Uttar Pradesh government to provide information regarding the possibility of constituting an SIT. The court had specifically inquired about entrusting the investigation to an existing SIT that had previously examined the issue before the lodging of a First Information Report (FIR). The court had also questioned whether this pre-FIR SIT could be assigned the task instead of the local police.
During previous hearings, the Chief Justice had cautioned against politicizing the matter, stating that the court’s role was to ensure a proper investigation into what was described as a simple case of alleged crime, rather than a platform for political discourse.
A law officer had previously informed the court that an investigation was underway, leading to the arrest of eight individuals, though specific details could not be divulged at that stage.
On July 13, the Supreme Court had ordered the Uttar Pradesh Police to submit a status report concerning the allegations. Concurrently, a notice was issued to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, the body managing the affairs of the Ram temple, in response to pleas demanding a fair and time-bound inquiry into the purported theft of donations.
Among the petitioners, Narendra Kumar Goswami had approached the apex court seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and an audit of the Trust’s finances by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). Two other petitioners, Ajay Kumar Rai and Dinesh Kumar Yadav, had filed a separate petition seeking similar investigative measures. A third petition, filed by RJD Member of Parliament Sudhakar Singh, had called for a forensic audit of the entire financial operations of the temple trust and a Supreme Court-monitored CBI inquiry.
The Chenab Times News Desk