Supreme Court's big verdict in the Ram temple donation theft case! What did the top court order after rejecting the demand for a CBI investigation?

BS News Agency: The country's highest court has given a historic verdict in an important case filed on sensational allegations of theft and financial irregularities in crores of rupees of donations and valuable gifts given by devotees to the historic Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya. After the information about the submission of the final charge sheet or charge sheet in the court by the Uttar Pradesh Police in this case came to light, the Supreme Court has formally rejected all the petitions for an independent investigation and a CBI investigation. A three-member special division bench headed by the Chief Justice of the country (CJI) Suryakant has clearly stated that the concerned magistrate court will now have to continue the further legal proceedings and trial as per all the prevailing laws. However, considering the public interest, the court has granted special permission to the petitioners to seek legal assistance in the ongoing criminal proceedings before the magistrate.

 During the recent hearing of the case, the Uttar Pradesh government informed the Supreme Court that the investigation into this sensational incident has already been successfully completed and a charge sheet has been filed in the specified court. Following this statement by the government, the Supreme Court disposed of all the petitions without maintaining any further vigil on the case. The bench observed that such a sensitive case is not just a personal matter between an accused and the state, but it directly involves the public interest of crores of devotees. Consequently, the petitioners will also be able to assist the court in the same manner as a victim of a crime is legally entitled to assist the court in criminal proceedings. However, the Supreme Court has made it very clear that it is not expressing any legal opinion of its own at this time on the truth or merits of the main allegations in the case. Now the local magistrate court will take further legal action based on the charge sheet and the evidence collected in its complete independence. Incidentally, several public interest litigations were filed in the Supreme Court after allegations of theft and misappropriation of donations and valuables given by devotees from India and abroad at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya were raised. The petitioners demanded an impartial CBI investigation, the formation of an independent investigation agency and a high-level inquiry into all the financial transactions of the temple trust.

During the previous hearings of the case, the Supreme Court was informed of a total of 105 incidents of illegal withdrawal of donation money and materials based on CCTV footage collected for the purpose of investigation. After a thorough investigation, the direct role and criminal contacts of a total of eight accused in these incidents also came to light. Earlier, the Supreme Court itself had regularly monitored the progress of the investigation in this case and had summoned a status report from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Uttar Pradesh government. However, now that the chargesheet has been filed and the court has disposed of all the appeals, the legal battle has now completely entered the realm of the local judicial courts.