New Delhi: The theft at the Ram temple in Ayodhya will be argued in a magistrate's court, not investigated again by the CBI.
A three-judge bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana on Monday disposed of the writ petition seeking a CBI probe, along with connected matters.
"The State of Uttar Pradesh has filed a status report, according to which the chargesheet has now been filed in the matter. Keeping this in view, we dispose of this writ petition and other connected matters with a direction to the learned Judicial Magistrate to proceed in the matter in accordance with law," the bench said.
It added that since there is an element of public interest, the petitioners may assist the magistrate "on the same premise as the law enables a victim of crime to assist the court". The bench clarified that it "has not expressed any opinion on merits" to ensure no prejudice is caused.
Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, for the state, said the theft mostly took place during counting, and that those doing the counting had taken the money.
CCTV footage existed only for a limited period, he said. "We went backwards. What they used to do was they would take the money and invest somewhere or deposit it in the bank accounts. So we checked the bank accounts of each of the employees who are accused. And we went backdate, how much amount was deposited. And we have that figure. Some of them have invested in property," Mehta said.
An audit was also conducted, he said, and "all artefacts or all chadava are found to be intact". Measures have been taken to prevent a repeat.
On a fresh petition in the matter, Mehta said it was in fact seeking a review of the November 2019 judgment in the Ram Mandir title dispute. The Chief Justice expressed surprise at the prayers and said the petitioner should instead file a civil suit.
The case arose from allegations that donations dropped into the temple's collection boxes had been siphoned off, and the state constituted a Special Investigation Team to probe it. That team has now filed its chargesheet. The matter will now proceed before the magistrate.