Supreme Court ends pleas for CBI probe into Ayodhya temple funds after police file court papers

The Supreme Court on Monday closed several petitions asking for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into money missing from Ram Temple donations. This decision came after the Uttar Pradesh government told the court that a special investigation team has already filed its legal papers in the matter.

Investigation Details

During the hearing, Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta told the Bench led by the Chief Justice that the money was stolen during the counting process and the accused people used those funds to buy property. The initial police work could only recover 48 hours of security camera footage, but officers managed to trace where the stolen money went. The investigation report stated that 105 cases of unauthorized cash removal were caught on camera. Police also checked records for valuable items, noting that receipts made by TCS software for 803 items matched properly and these valuables are stored safely in a State Bank of India locker. However, investigators found 86 valuable items that did not have receipts, and authorities have verified these separately. Officials also checked records for about 944 kilograms of white metal sent for melting, along with specific media claims about silver bricks, a silver necklace, sandals, and a Ramcharitmanas donation, finding no mismatch there. The probe team recorded statements from 173 witnesses and looked into security rules and camera logs. The official police first report named eight specific individuals alongside other unidentified persons as accused.

Court Orders And Wider Demands

The apex court permitted the petitioners, which include the temple case trust along with Ajay Kumar Rai, Narendra Kumar Goswami, and Sudhakar Singh, to help the lower court during upcoming legal steps as victims of crime since public interest is involved. Beyond asking for a federal agency probe, the petitioners had wanted courts to protect security camera footage, conduct an independent forensic audit of all trust offerings from the beginning, and create a national transparency framework for major public temples across the country.

Context

Temple donation tracking and security protocols are matters of intense public attention given the massive inflows of cash and precious items from devotees nationwide. Special investigation teams operate under state police frameworks to look into specific complex criminal complaints before matters move to regular trial courts. Public interest litigation allows concerned citizens or trusts to approach courts when matters affect public funds or religious endowments.