The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Monday refused to grant an urgent out-of-turn hearing to two public interest litigations seeking an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of donations and valuables at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir in Ayodhya.
The Vacation Bench of Justice Pankaj Bhatia and Justice Amitabh Kumar Rai orally observed that there was no immediate urgency in the matter since the Uttar Pradesh government had already constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the allegations.
One of the petitions was filed by Advocate Mohit Ashok, who sought an independent and time-bound investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged embezzlement of cash donations as well as gold and silver offerings made by devotees at the temple.
The plea further sought a special forensic audit of the accounts of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). Referring to a June 8 report published in Dainik Jagran, the petition alleged that certain Trust employees had siphoned off money deposited in the temple’s donation boxes.
According to the plea, four suspect employees had already been detained by the police, and nearly Rs 5 lakh was recovered from a bank account allegedly linked to a Trust employee. The petitioner further claimed that authorities were engaging in “institutional denial” instead of taking corrective measures.
The second PIL was filed by Advocate Moti Lal Yadav seeking the constitution of a high-level judicial commission headed by retired judges of the Supreme Court or High Courts to investigate the alleged financial irregularities. The petitioner also requested the Court to appoint the District Judge of Ayodhya as administrator or receiver of the Trust. He further sought freezing of the Trust’s bank accounts and powers pending completion of the SIT inquiry.
Earlier, on June 13, the Uttar Pradesh government constituted a three-member SIT at the request of the temple trust following allegations of financial misappropriation. The Trust, however, has denied all allegations and maintained that donations are handled through a transparent process involving counting, verification and secure deposits.
The SIT, headed by Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, is expected to submit its preliminary report to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath shortly.
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