look news india
The serious case of alleged misappropriation and theft of donations (donation money) offered by devotees from India and abroad to the grand and historic Ram temple of Ayodhya has now knocked at the door of the country’s biggest court i.e. the Supreme Court. An important petition has been filed in the Supreme Court regarding the alleged rigging that took place during the counting of donations inside the temple premises, on which there is every possibility of an important hearing on July 13. In view of the sensitivity of the case, a strong demand has been made in this petition to hand over its impartial investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and to form a high-level Special Investigation Team (SIT).
‘Regular bench’ will hear Ram temple donations after holidays
The legal process in this high-profile case is progressing rapidly. Earlier, on June 29, the vacation bench of the Supreme Court had clearly refused to give urgent hearing or immediate intervention in this case. At that time, the apex court had said in clear words that after the end of summer vacations, this entire case will be listed for proper hearing before the regular bench. Now that the regular court proceedings of the Supreme Court are going to resume in full from July 13, the System Generated Status of the petition is also indicating that it can be tabled for hearing on July 13 itself. However, there will be scope for partial change in this date till the final cause list comes.
What was the big revelation in the initial report of SIT?
The initial report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has shocked everyone amid the ongoing departmental investigation regarding the security and transparent counting of donations in Ram Temple. In this investigation report, a person named Avinash Shukla has been described as the main mastermind or main accused of the entire case. The investigating officers suspect that this entire game continued inside the temple premises for about 40 days, in which about 70 incidents of theft have been reported at different times during the counting of donation amount.
It is clearly mentioned in the SIT report that this entire network and episode of alleged theft was revolving around Avinash Shukla. When Shukla was taken into custody and interrogated by the police and investigators, it was possible to identify five other accused involved in this racket on his information. Along with this, the suspicious modus operandi through which money was being moved here and there inside the ‘Donation Counting Room’ of the temple has also been completely exposed.
Investigation of bank accounts revealed: Salary of Rs 15 thousand and transactions worth lakhs!
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has hired some special staff and sevadars for transparent counting of huge offerings and donations coming to the temple. According to government and trust rules, these employees get a salary or honorarium of just over Rs 15,000 every month after all deductions.
But when the SIT closely scrutinized the banking activities, bank statements and financial transactions of the main accused Avinash Shukla just before the arrest, the officers were shocked. The amount deposited and transferred into Shukla’s bank accounts was found to be many times more than his legitimate and known income (Rs 15,000 per month). Based on this financial imbalance and suspicious transactions, the petitioner has now appealed to the Supreme Court for a CBI investigation to get to the root of this entire scam.