Ayodhya Ram Mandir Donations: PIL In Supreme Court Seeks Forensic Audit, National Transparency Framework

Filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, the petition has been moved by Advocate Narendra Kumar Goswami of the Supreme Court who describes himself as a devotee of Shri Ram Lalla Virajman. The plea raises issues concerning the secular administration of temple donations and argues that offerings made by devotees constitute sacred trust property belonging to the deity, which has long been recognised in law as a juristic person.

The petitioner has sought a declaration that cash, gold, silver, jewellery, digital donations and other valuable offerings made to Shri Ram Lalla must be treated as trust property, requiring transparent, accountable and fiduciary management by those entrusted with their custody.

The plea comes against the backdrop of allegations of irregularities in the handling of donations at the Ram Temple. It states that the Uttar Pradesh Government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in June 2026 after reports of alleged misappropriation and mishandling of donations and offerings. According to the petition, the SIT has already questioned trust members and examined financial records and donation accounts.

Describing the issue as one involving constitutional significance, the petitioner contends that the case concerns the intersection of Articles 14, 21, 25 and 26 of the Constitution and is confined solely to the secular administration of temple property without seeking any interference with religious rituals, customs or denominational practices.

The petition seeks immediate directions to preserve all physical and electronic evidence relating to donations received by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust since its inception. Among the records sought to be secured are CCTV footage, DVR and NVR recordings, cloud backups, access logs, QR code and UPI payment records, payment gateway data, hundi opening registers, donation counting sheets, bank deposit slips, reconciliation statements, vault access registers and inventory records.

It further urges the Court to direct forensic copying and hash-sealing of all electronic records to prevent destruction, alteration or tampering with digital evidence during the pendency of the proceedings.

The petitioner has also sought a direction to the State Government and the SIT to place a sealed status report before the Supreme Court detailing the progress of the ongoing investigation into the alleged irregularities.

Besides preservation of evidence, the PIL seeks an independent forensic audit of all donations, offerings, valuable articles, digital donations, bank accounts, reconciliation statements and inventory records maintained by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust from its inception. The audit, according to the plea, should be conducted by an independent expert agency or panel appointed under the supervision of the Court.

As an alternative, the petitioner has urged that if the Supreme Court finds the existing investigation inadequate or lacking credibility, it may direct an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or constitute a court-monitored Special Investigation Team.

The PIL also seeks broader institutional reforms. It requests the Court to frame minimum constitutional safeguards for transparent management of donations in temples of national importance. The proposed safeguards include mandatory CCTV coverage, digital audit trails, inventory protocols, dual-control systems for counting donations, bank reconciliation procedures, periodic audits and public accountability mechanisms.

Additionally, the petitioner has prayed for the constitution of an expert committee comprising representatives of the Union and State Governments, audit and accounting professionals, cyber-forensic experts, digital payment specialists and temple administration experts to prepare a "National Minimum Temple Donation Transparency Framework."

According to the petition, the proposed framework would apply only to the secular aspects of temple administration, including receipt, custody, accounting, auditing and preservation of donation records, while expressly excluding any interference with religious rituals, worship practices, priestly functions or denominational rights protected under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution.

Pending adjudication of the PIL, the petitioner has sought interim directions restraining authorities from destroying, overwriting, altering or tampering with any records relating to donations and offerings at the Ayodhya Ram Temple and has requested the Court to order immediate forensic preservation of all electronic evidence along with submission of a sealed SIT status report.

It is to be noted that an First Information Report (FIR) has been registered in connection with the alleged embezzlement of devotees' donations at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya, with police arresting all eight persons named in the case, including the official responsible for cash counting at the temple's pilgrim facilitation centre. According to police, those arrested include the cash-counting in-charge and several others allegedly associated with the handling, collection and transportation of donation money. Names of arrested persons are- Tinnu Yadav, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Avinash Shukla, Manish Yadav, Subhash Srivastava, Karunesh Pandey and Ramshankar Mishra. The accused have been booked on charges relating to criminal breach of trust, cheating, criminal conspiracy and other offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Investigators suspect that the alleged misappropriation took place over a period of time through manipulation of the donation collection process.