The Supreme Court directed the reconstituted SIT probing the alleged siphoning of Ayodhya Ram Mandir offerings to file a status report, with the CJI stating, “We are focused on having a fair, speedy and impartial investigation,” while prioritising a time-bound probe.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court directed the newly reconstituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged siphoning of devotee offerings at the Ayodhya Ram Mandir to place a status report on record, observing that its immediate concern was a fair and time-bound investigation rather than ancillary reforms.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was hearing a batch of public interest litigation petitions seeking transfer of the probe into the alleged misappropriation of temple donations to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State of Uttar Pradesh, informed the Bench that the SIT had been reconstituted and was now headed by Inspector General of Police Kiran S.
The team, he said, comprises senior officers of the rank of Deputy Inspector General, Inspector General and Superintendent of Police. He further submitted that a forensic auditor would be associated with the investigation.
Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat, appearing for one of the petitioners, contended that devotees across the country had parted with sums ranging from Rs.100 to Rs.500 through an organised nationwide collection drive, and that it was alleged that the entire corpus so raised had not reached the trust managing the temple. He pressed for a direction requiring receipts issued by the trust to be uploaded online in the interest of transparency.
The Chief Justice, however, indicated that questions of institutional transparency would be considered only after the SIT’s findings came on record.
The CJI observed,
“Let the SIT give its report. All remedial steps to ensure transparency will be taken. We are on qualitative investigation of the incident. We are focused on having a fair, speedy and impartial investigation,”
In its order, the Bench took note of the office memorandum issued by the Uttar Pradesh government constituting the SIT, as well as the Solicitor General’s statement regarding the inclusion of a forensic auditor.
The Court recorded,
“We have been informed SIT has taken charge. Let the SIT submit a status report on the next date. If SIT faces some issues then also we will issue some directions,”
One of the petitions has been moved by advocates Ajay Kumar Rai and Dinesh Kumar Yadav, who have contended that the earlier investigating team lacked the forensic capacity and institutional wherewithal demanded by a financial inquiry of this scale. It was their case that the earlier SIT had begun its exercise without a first information report having been registered, rendering the evidentiary worth of its conclusions open to challenge.
Besides a CBI investigation, the petitioners have sought interim protection of evidence, urging directions to the temple trust and the State to secure donation registers, ledgers, bank records, CCTV footage, software databases and other physical and electronic material.
A separate petition has been filed by Rashtriya Janata Dal Member of Parliament Sudhakar Singh, who has sought that the probe be handed over to the CBI under the supervision of the Supreme Court. Singh has additionally proposed a temporary court-monitored oversight committee comprising retired judicial officers, financial experts and persons of impeccable integrity to superintend the trust’s financial and administrative affairs during the pendency of the investigation.
He has also sought preservation of account books, UPI logs, servers, emails and CCTV recordings to guard against destruction or tampering of evidence.
The proceedings arise out of allegations that cash and valuables offered by devotees at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple complex were pilfered during collection and counting. The temple, consecrated in January 2024, draws lakhs of pilgrims annually, many of whom deposit cash, gold, silver and ornaments in donation boxes installed within the complex. Collection, counting, accounting and application of these offerings are handled by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, constituted by the Union government in February 2020 pursuant to the Supreme Court’s 2019 Ayodhya verdict.
The allegations surfaced in local reportage in early June 2026 and acquired a political dimension on June 7, 2026, when Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav referred to reports of unaccounted donations and demanded judicial intervention. It was alleged that discrepancies existed in collection figures, and that certain low-paid staff associated with the counting process had accumulated disproportionate assets.
Estimates of the alleged shortfall have varied widely across media accounts, from a few crore rupees to substantially higher figures; none has been judicially determined.
A case was subsequently registered at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita along with Sections 13(1)(A) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Eight persons several of them associated with transporting donation boxes and counting cash were arrested and remanded to judicial custody, with investigators stating that property purchases in and around Ayodhya were being examined as part of the money trail.
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