New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up on an urgent basis a petition that sought registration of an FIR and a time‑bound, CBI‑led probe into alleged financial irregularities linked to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
A Bench headed by Justice M.M. Sundresh, with Justice Sheel Nagu also on the panel, questioned the need for immediate intervention. “Heavens are not going to fall if the petition is heard after the court resumes regular functioning after the summer break,” the court observed, as reported by The Tribune.
The petitioners, advocates Ajay Kumar Rai and Dinesh Kumar Yadav, filed their plea on June 22 asking that a multidisciplinary special investigation team (SIT) under the Central Bureau of Investigation be constituted to investigate purported embezzlement and other “illegalities” in the management of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
A day after the petition was lodged, the Uttar Pradesh government’s SIT submitted a preliminary report on June 23. Following that report, an FIR was registered and eight people were taken into custody.
Rai and Yadav urged the apex court to step in to preserve public faith in the Trust’s governance. They said that whether the allegations of missing funds and other irregularities prove true or not, the controversy has caused deep concern among those who fought to restore Ayodhya’s revered site.
The petitioners argued that the allegations should be probed independently by a single agency equipped with the necessary professional expertise, resources and institutional structure to handle complex financial and criminal investigations. They contended this would inspire more public confidence than a preliminary inquiry by an SIT made up of administrative officers who “may not possess specialized credentials in criminal investigation.”
The plea further asserted that the reported irregularities extend beyond possible cognisable offences and directly affect “the faith, sentiments and trust of countless devotees and members of the public.”
