Ram Mandir Donations Theft: Supreme Court Supervision Ends; Chargesheet Filed

The Supreme Court on Monday has disposed of the batch of petitions filed before it concerning the alleged embezzlement of donations collected by the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Ayodhya.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed court that money was found to have been misappropriated at the counting stage and a chargesheet has been filed.

Accordingly, a CJI Surya Kant led bench has allowed the petitioners to approach the Judicial Magistrate with its suggestions or grievances that may arise.

In September, court was informed that one hundred and five instances of donation theft at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya were caught on temple CCTV. The Solicitor General had also informed the court that the SIT investigation is nearing completion and the charge sheet will be filed by September 25. The court directed the magistrate to take action on the charge sheet in accordance with the law.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had categorically refused to order disclosure of the report of the SIT constituted as per its previous directions to investigate the alleged misappropriation and theft concerning Ayodhya Ram Mandir donations. "We cannot order on disclosure of report as of now..we will consider later..we are only concerned right now with the investigation of the FIR..that it be taken to logical conclusion..", CJI Surya Kant had observed.

In July, a SIT had been constituted as per Supreme Court's directions. "Apropos your lordships last direction, we have constituted an SIT which would be headed by Inspector General of Police Mr. Kiran S, he will be the Chairman, then there is on DIG, one SSP and one ASP..they may file their...," Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had informed a CJI Kant led bench.

While hearing the case, Supreme Court had cautioned the petitioners before it to not politicize the issue. As the hearing progressed, the petitioners interjected to express concerns over the investigation. A miffed CJI proceeded to caution the petitioners and said, "WE ARE PUTTING A WORD OF CAUTION...DON'T PLAY ANY POLITICS. COURTS ARE NOT MEANT FOR POLITICS. DONT POLITICISE THE ISSUE..IT IS A SIMPLE CASE OF PRIME FACIE COMMISSION OF AN OFFENCE. AND THERE MUST BE A FAIR INVESTIGATION AND INVESTIGATION SHOULD BE TAKEN TO A LOGICAL CONCLUSION..THATS ALL.."

One of the petitions before Supreme court sought registration of an FIR and a court-monitored investigation into the alleged embezzlement of donations collected by the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Ayodhya. A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Sheel Nagu had heard an urgent mentioning made before its bench. "Allegations are very serious...the way State is dealing casts doubts, " the counsel told the court.

The said petition was jointly filed by practising Advocates Ajay Kumar Rai and Dinesh Kumar Yadav, who have sought a direction for a fair, impartial and time-bound investigation into the alleged financial irregularities concerning the functioning and administration of the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. The petitioners have urged the Court to direct registration of an FIR and constitute a multi-disciplinary Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), contending that an independent probe is necessary to inspire public confidence in the investigation.

Another PIL was filed before the Supreme Court seeking a forensic audit of donations made to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya, preservation of all evidence relating to temple offerings, and the formulation of a nationwide transparency framework for handling donations received by temples of national importance. 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.

RJD MP Sudhakar Singh had also filed a Public Interest Litigation before Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe into the alleged donation theft at Ayodhya Ram Mandir and also a direction to the temple Trust to place before the court complete statement of all donations in form of money and valuables received since its formation on February 5, 2020. The PIL filed through Advocate Satyam Singh Rajput and Advocate-On-Record Jaswanthi A also seeks transfer of the investigation arising out of the allegations concerning the administration, accounting and utilisation of donations and offerings received by Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to the Central Bureau of Investigation, to be conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court, or under such independent mechanism as the Court may deem fit and proper.

Case Titles: Narendra Kumar Goswami v. Union of India and others; Ajay Kumar Rai and another v. Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Theerth Kshetra Trust; Sudhakar Singh v. Union of India and others

Bench: CJI Kant, Justice Bagchi and Justice Mohana

Hearing Date: November 2, 2026