Ram Mandir Donation Row | Allahabad HC Refuses Urgent Hearing Of PILs Seeking Probe Into 'Misappropriation Of Funds'

The Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) today refused out-of-turn hearing on two Public Interest Litigation (PIL) pleas seeking an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of donations and valuables at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir in Ayodhya.

A vacation bench of Justice Pankaj Bhatia and Justice Amitabh Kumar Rai orally remarked that there was no immediate urgency to hear the pleas as the State government had already constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the issue.

The first petition, filed by practising Advocate Mohit Ashok, seeks an independent, credible, and time-bound investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged "embezzlement of donation funds" (including monetary, gold, and silver) at the temple.

It also seeks a comprehensive "special forensic audit" of the accounts of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

Relying on a news report published by the national daily Dainik Jagran (on June 8), the PIL plea states that money deposited by devotees into the donation boxes (daan-patra) at the Temple has been embezzled by certain employees of the Trust.

The petition points out that even though 4 suspect employees were taken into police custody and approximately ₹5 lakh was reportedly recovered from a bank account linked to a Trust employee, the respondent authorities are engaged in "institutional denial" rather than taking remedial action.

Another petition is by practising Advocate Moti Lal Yadav, which seeks the appointment of a high-level judicial commission, headed by retired Supreme Court or High Court judges, to thoroughly investigate irregularities and the misappropriation of funds.

Furthermore, his petition seeks the appointment of the District Judge of Ayodhya as the administrator or receiver for the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

To prevent any potential tampering or further financial mismanagement, Yadav has also prayed for the freezing of the Trust's powers and bank accounts until the conclusion of the SIT probe.

He also seeks a detailed inquiry into the scam by the Janmabhoomi Kshetra Trust itself. 

It may be noted that on June 13, the UP government constituted a 3-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) at the request of the temple trust, following allegations of misappropriation of donations received at the temple. 

However, earlier, the Trust had denied allegations of misappropriation of donation funds. The trust had stated that all money and valuables offered by devotees are handled through established procedures that involve counting, verification, and secure deposit.

The SIT, headed by Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, also consists of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kiran S and Special Secretary (Finance Department) Neel Ratan as members. The SIT is likely to submit its preliminary report to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today.