Ram Mandir embezzlement case: SC seeks probe status report from U.P.

The Supreme Court on Monday, July 13, 2026, directed the State of Uttar Pradesh to submit a status report on the ongoing investigation into the Ram Temple donations embezzlement case and called hearings of the State and Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on petitions seeking to transfer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Also read: ‘Theft’ row in Ram temple donations | Highlights

The three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, accepted the oral request made by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, acting on behalf of both the Union and the Uttar Pradesh government, not to issue formal judicial notice to them. The Court limited itself to merely issuing a formal judicial notice to the Foundation.

The report will be presented in a sealed cover.

Mr. Mehta said he was already in the courtroom and was representing the State and the Union of India. The senior legal official offered to submit the status report on the investigation into the case under a closed cover. He said the state has already constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the investigation is ongoing with arrests.

Agreeing to this, the Bench said that the status report should include details of the structure of the SIT and be submitted on July 20, the next date of hearing.

The court asked petitioners attempting to make preliminary oral presentations to keep the powder dry for bytes outside the courtroom.

RJD MP Sudhakar Singh’s petition

The court was hearing separate petitions seeking CBI probe and preservation of electronic evidence in the Ram temple donations embezzlement case. A petition filed by Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Sudhakar Singh seeking to provide and publish complete financial details of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, including foreign contributions, had requested the court to direct the Trust to prepare and produce a complete statement of cash donations, bank transfers, digital payments, foreign contributions, gold, silver and other valuables along with accounting, custody and usage details since its inception.

Another petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer NK Goswami sought preservation of electronic evidence such as CCTV footage, which could be “silently lost”, deleted, overwritten or corrupted in the coming days.

The petitions urged the court to order the preservation of physical, electronic and digital records, including account books, cash books, ledgers, receipts, bank records, UPI and other digital payment records, CCTV footage, electronic devices, servers, emails and all other records related to the receipt, storage, accounting and use of donations and proposals received by the Foundation, to ensure that no material evidence is destroyed, altered or tampered with during the investigation.

The MP stated that revealing the truth in the case was “of extraordinary importance for the public.” “The need for constitutional safeguards to preserve public confidence in one of the country’s most revered religious institutions and to ensure that the ongoing investigation into allegations regarding the handling of devotees’ offerings must be fair, independent and inspire the confidence of the nation,” the petition said.