A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into alleged irregularities in donations made to the Ayodhya Ram temple.
The Ram temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, was consecrated in 2024 and continues to draw thousands of devotees from across the country. Donations have been flowing to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust from within India and from abroad.
According to the report, Mahipal Singh, who reviewed the temple’s accounts, had raised concerns that devotees’ donations were being mishandled. Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav also alleged that the BJP government was maintaining silence on the issue.
Following the allegations, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath constituted a three-member Special Investigation Team to look into the matter.
In the latest plea, senior advocate Anup Prakash Awasthi has alleged that donations and offerings are not being handled properly, that there is no transparency in maintaining income and expenditure accounts, and that funds running into several crores may have been misappropriated. The petition seeks directions for a CBI inquiry and calls for a permanent oversight body under the Supreme Court to monitor the temple’s accounts and donations. The plea is expected to be taken up for hearing soon.
