The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday informed the Supreme Court that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing alleged financial irregularities involving donations and offerings at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya has substantially completed its investigation and will file a charge sheet within the next two days.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana was hearing a batch of petitions seeking a court-monitored investigation into alleged irregularities in the handling of donations and offerings received by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
Appearing for the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that a status report had been submitted in a sealed cover.
Mehta informed the bench that the deadline for filing the charge sheet expires on September 25 and that the SIT would submit it within the next two days. The state government said the investigation had been completed to a substantial extent and that the charge sheet would be filed before the competent court after completion of the remaining formalities.
Taking the submission on record, the Supreme Court permitted the concerned Sessions Judge 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 persons. It also examined records relating to donations and offerings received at the temple.
According to the report, analysis of CCTV footage identified 105 incidents involving theft of donations at the temple.
The report also stated that receipts for valuable items received as offerings are generated through software and that such valuables are kept in State Bank of India (SBI) lockers.
The latest development follows the Supreme Court's earlier direction to the Uttar Pradesh government to reconstitute the SIT investigating the alleged irregularities and ensure a fair, speedy and qualitative probe.
The reconstituted SIT is headed by Inspector General of Police Kiran S., with DIG Ayodhya Somen Verma and SSP Ayodhya Dr Gaurav Grover as members.
The Supreme Court had also indicated that a forensic auditor should be associated with the investigation in view of the allegations concerning the handling of trust funds.
The petitions before the apex court seek a court-monitored investigation into alleged financial irregularities in the management of donations and offerings received by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
Meanwhile, the trust has appointed Air Marshal Jeetendra Mishra (retd) as its new Chief Executive Officer. He has assumed full charge of the trust's operations.
