A three-judge Supreme Court bench is scheduled to hear multiple petitions on Monday demanding an independent investigation and a thorough financial audit into the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ayodhya Ram Mandir.
Published: July 10, 2026, 8:40 PM IST
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New Delhi: In a historic development in the Ayodhya Ram Temple donation theft case, the Supreme Court is scheduled a batch of public interest litigations (PILs) seeking a court-monitored probe into the alleged financial irregularities in the handling of donations and offerings received by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Ayodhya. According to the official causelist published on the apex court’s website, a three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana is scheduled to hear a series of petitions on July 13.
Cases pending at Ayodhya Ram Temple donation theft case
The scheduled matters include a writ petition filed in person by advocate Narendra Kumar Goswami, alongside a criminal writ petition brought by Ajay Kumar Rai and another individual against the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and others. Additionally, the Bench will take up a separate petition moved by RJD MP Sudhakar Singh.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had declined an urgent hearing on Goswami’s plea when it was mentioned before a Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Sheel Nagu.
The petitioner had pressed for an immediate listing, contending that the allegations raised were “very serious”.
Questioning the urgency, the Justice Sundresh-led Bench had directed that the matter be listed after the top court reopened following the summer vacation.
Also read: Ayodhya Temple trust files FIR over suspected misappropriation of donations
Goswami’s petition seeks directions for preservation of records and evidence relating to donations made at the Ram Janmabhoomi temple and greater transparency in the administration of temple offerings.
According to the plea, offerings made to a deity in a public temple constitute “sacred trust property” vesting in the deity as a juristic person, and persons handling such offerings are fiduciaries bound by duties of transparency, accountability, and preservation.
The petition has sought immediate preservation of all records, CCTV footage and digital logs relating to donations and offerings at the temple, besides seeking a sealed status report of the ongoing Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe and an independent forensic audit of all donations, offerings and valuable items received by the Trust since its inception.
It had also urged the apex court to direct the formulation of minimum constitutional safeguards for transparent handling of public temple donations and offerings in temples of national importance.
(With inputs from agencies)
