Hearing the Ayodhya Ram Mandir offering theft case on Monday, the Supreme Court asked the Uttar Pradesh government to include a forensic auditor in the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the State to probe into the alleged financial irregularities of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Ayodhya.
Before a Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohan, the Uttar Pradesh government submitted a status report. During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that the newly constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) would be headed by Inspector General (IG) Kiran S. The team also includes a Deputy Inspector General (DIG), a Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and an Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP).
At the previous hearing on 20 July, the Supreme Court had directed the Uttar Pradesh government to constitute a fresh SIT and submit a report on the investigation carried out so far.
In compliance with the court’s directions, the government constituted the new SIT on Saturday, appointing Lucknow Range IG Kiran S. as its head. The earlier SIT had been led by IAS officer Vijay Vishwas Pant, with Kiran S. serving as one of its members. During the previous hearing, Chief Justice Surya Kant had directed that a fresh SIT be formed under the leadership of a senior IPS officer so that the investigation could reach a conclusive stage.
During the hearing, the Chief Justice had also observed in strong terms: “We only want to caution that this sensitive matter should not be politicised. At first glance, it appears to be a criminal case. It must be investigated fairly, independently and with complete integrity.”
Meanwhile, all eight accused in the Ram Temple donation theft case are scheduled to appear before the Anti-Corruption Court today. Owing to security concerns, the hearing will be conducted via video conferencing. The accused — Ramshankar Yadav alias ‘Tinnu’, Anukalp Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Lavkush Mishra, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Manish Yadav and retired bank employee Subhash Srivastava — are currently in judicial custody.
