In the Ayodhya Ram Mandir donation theft case, the Supreme Court has ordered the formation of a fresh SIT. During the hearing at 3:30 pm on Monday, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said that a new SIT should be constituted. A senior IPS officer should lead the team so that the investigation can reach a conclusive stage.
The CJI said the probe must be fair and conducted without any bias. The court directed that the investigation should be carried out properly. It asked Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta to bring names from the Uttar Pradesh government for the SIT.
The court will hear the matter next on 27 July. Advocate Devdutt Kamat and others appeared on behalf of the petitioners.
Meanwhile, the already-constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) submitted its status report in the Ayodhya Ram Mandir offering theft case to the Supreme Court late on Sunday night. According to media reports, the report has been filed in a sealed envelope.
During the previous hearing on 13 July, the Supreme Court issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh government, the Centre, and the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. The court directed the SIT to submit a status report and also ordered that the CCTV footage related to the case be preserved.
Four separate petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court in connection with the alleged theft of temple offerings. Along with seeking a CBI investigation, the petitions also call for the formation of an expert committee to review the management of donations at the temple.
Meanwhile, SP MP Awadhesh Prasad said,
Today, it is regrettable that there has been theft of donations and offerings at the Ram Temple. This is a theft worth crores. BJP people want to save the real culprits.
Meanwhile, an Ertiga car, a Bullet motorcycle, and cash have been recovered from Ramshankar Yadav alias ‘Tinnu’ and his nephew Manish, who are accused of theft of offerings. Land-related documents have also been found. Tinnu and Manish were taken into police remand. After completing 39 hours, both were sent back to jail on Sunday at 11 pm.
Tinnu has been close to Champat Rai, the former general secretary of the Ram Temple Trust. He used to oversee the Mandir’s donation boxes, while Manish was responsible for counting the offerings. Police had recovered ₹1 lakh from Tinnu’s house and ₹2 lakh from Manish’s house.
Around 11:30 PM, the police admitted Tinnu and his nephew Manish to jail.
Updates
During the hearing, a lawyer informed the court that the investigation was being conducted not by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), but by the Circle Officer (CO) of Ayodhya.
In response, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said, “We will examine what needs to be done in this matter. We will issue certain directions in this regard on Monday, 27 July.
During the hearing in the Supreme Court, a lawyer requested that all evidence related to the case, particularly CCTV footage and other electronic evidence, should be preserved.
In response, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta informed the court that all evidence was being preserved.
Meanwhile, another lawyer objected and sought permission to address the court. Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant responded, “Is it necessary to allow everyone to speak? We ourselves are keeping a close watch on every aspect of this case.”
The lawyer then said that the FIR should be uploaded to the public portal, but this had not yet been done. He also requested that copies of the status report related to the investigation be made available to the concerned parties.
Senior Advocate Devdutt Kamat, appearing for the petitioners, said, “We have raised a larger issue. There are three aspects to what has happened here. When the temple was being built, the Trust sought donations from every devotee and issued receipts. The money, however, did not reach the temple. One suggestion is that all the receipts available with the Trust should be made public on its website. People should know whether their money has reached the temple or not.”
The Chief Justice of India (CJI) said, “Not on the website, but a properly maintained record should be kept.”
Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta said, “I have instructions not to object to any suggestion made by the court. Whatever is necessary for a fair investigation.”
Advocate Kamat then said, “The state should make the donation details public. There are reports that these records have gone missing.”
The CJI replied, “You have to be practical. People may claim they donated a diamond. Wherever a receipt has been issued, there should be a proper record of it.”
During the hearing in the Ram Mandir donation theft case, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said that the SIT constituted to investigate the matter should be reconstituted. He said:
“There are two IAS officers on the SIT. One is the Lucknow Commissioner and the other is a Special Secretary. There is also an Inspector General (IG)-rank officer. In view of the ongoing investigation, a fresh SIT should be constituted and this IG-rank officer should head it, as he is fully familiar with the case.”
The CJI asked the state government to hold consultations and reconstitute the SIT. He made it clear that the court would issue further directions if necessary. The court also cautioned against politicising the matter. The CJI said, “The investigation must be completely impartial and should be taken to its logical conclusion.”
The Supreme Court began hearing the Ayodhya Ram Mandir donation theft case.
Appearing for the government, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta said, “In compliance with the court’s earlier order, we have filed a status report. The investigation is underway and eight people have been arrested. I cannot disclose further details at this stage. The information is contained in Item No. 36.”
The Chief Justice of India (CJI) asked, “Is the existing SIT conducting the investigation?”
The Solicitor General replied, “The police are investigating the case. It concerns a cognisable offence.”
The CJI then asked, “What is the composition of the SIT? Is it the same one? Who is the investigating officer? Is there an SIT overseeing the investigation?”
The Solicitor General responded, “No.”
The CJI said, “We will take up the matter again in three to four days. We would like to examine the status report.”
#WATCH दिल्ली: केंद्रीय मंत्री एसपी सिंह बघेल ने अयोध्या राम मंदिर चंदे में हेराफेरी के मामले पर कहा, “उत्तर प्रदेश सरकार ने संज्ञान लेते हुए SIT की जांच बैठाई है। बहुत लोगों से पूछताछ की गई है… विपक्ष को इस बात को सदन में नहीं उठाना चाहिए जिसकी जांच विचाराधीन हो।” pic.twitter.com/Q80BQ1JbS2— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) July 20, 2026
#WATCH दिल्ली: संसद का मानसून सत्र | सपा प्रमुख अखिलेश यादव ने कहा, “… भाजपा में अहंकार है। उन्हें बच्चों की बात सुननी चाहिए। NEET में इतना बड़ा घोटाला हुआ और आज भी लोग सवाल खड़े कर रहे हैं। यह कैसी सरकार है? क्या यही अमृत काल है।” pic.twitter.com/eYw6T0oVKO— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) July 20, 2026
- First petition: Filed by Supreme Court advocate Narendra Kumar Goswami, seeking a CBI investigation into the alleged theft and a CAG audit of the financial affairs of the Ram Mandir Trust.
- Second petition: Filed by advocates Ajay Kumar Rai and Dinesh Kumar Yadav, demanding a CBI probe into the entire case.
- Third petition: Filed by RJD MP Sudhakar Singh, seeking a forensic audit of all financial transactions of the Ram Mandir Trust and a CBI investigation under Supreme Court supervision. The petition also seeks preservation of all evidence, including physical documents, digital ledgers, UPI transaction logs and bank statements, to prevent tampering.
- Fourth petition: Filed by the Hindu Dharma Parishad, requesting a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into the allegations related to the Ram Mandir offerings.
अयोध्या, उत्तर प्रदेश: राम मंदिर चढ़ावा चोरी मामले में पुलिस ने आरोपी राम शंकर यादव उर्फ टिन्नू की अर्टिगा कार और बुलेट मोटरसाइकिल बरामद की है। मनीष और टिन्नू से नकदी भी मिली है। अब तक तीन वाहन, दस्तावेज और सोने की वस्तुएं बरामद हुई हैं। आठों आरोपी रिमांड पर हैं। pic.twitter.com/c2DCGAP34f— IANS Hindi (@IANSKhabar) July 19, 2026
The Ram Mandir Trust will hold its meeting at 4 pm on 22 July at Maniram Das Chhawani in Ayodhya. The agenda includes reviewing the shortage of trust members, taking decisions on recommendations made during the 6 July meeting, discussing the SIT’s final report, and deliberating on several administrative issues, including the appointment of a Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
- According to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, it has received ₹3,264 crore through the Nidhi Samarpan campaign and corpus donations. Of this, ₹2,370 crore has been spent on the construction of the Ram Mandir and other related works.
- The trust said devotees have offered ₹582 crore in cash offerings up to 31 March 2026. Of this, ₹391 crore has been used for temple operations and other expenses, while the remaining amount is securely deposited in bank accounts.
- Following the SIT’s preliminary report, General Secretary Champat Rai and Trustee Dr Anil Mishra resigned, taking moral responsibility. The trust accepted both resignations and also removed Gopal Nagarkatte from the list of special invitees.
- The trust said the truth will emerge only after the legal investigation is completed and that it would be inappropriate to hold anyone guilty before the probe concludes.
- It also said it has a complete record of 2,926 types of gifts offered by devotees. These are verified annually by an independent chartered accountant firm, and devotees can also seek details of their donations by taking a prior appointment.
