The controversy surrounding the alleged misappropriation of offerings made at Ayodhya's Ram Temple has now taken a legal turn, with the Lucknow High Court stepping into the matter. A public interest litigation has been filed in the High Court seeking a CBI investigation into the allegations of embezzlement of the offerings. The petition also requests a CAG audit of the cash, gold and silver received by the temple. It is being reported that the PIL may come up for hearing next week. Through the petition, a demand has been raised for a CBI probe into the alleged misappropriation of the offerings deposited in the donation boxes of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya. The PIL was filed on Friday before the Lucknow Bench of the High Court, and it has been submitted by local advocate Mohit Ashok. The petitioner has urged the court to direct the CBI to investigate the alleged embezzlement and to register a case in connection with it.
In the petition, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has been requested to conduct an audit of the cash, gold and silver ornaments and other valuables received in the temple's donation boxes. The petition states that reports related to the alleged misappropriation of the donations and offerings made at the Shri Ram Temple — a centre of faith for crores of Hindus — keep surfacing, and these have deeply hurt the sentiments of devotees. In such a situation, an impartial investigation and audit are absolutely essential. Besides the Centre and the state government, the petition has also named the CBI, the CAG and the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust as respondents.
Earlier, in recent days, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav had claimed that crores of rupees collected in the offerings of Ayodhya's Ram Temple had gone missing. Akhilesh Yadav appealed to the court to take suo motu cognisance of the entire affair. He wrote on the social media platform X, ‘For the worshippers of Lord Ram across the world, it is extremely sensitive news that crores of rupees from the Ram Temple's offerings have been found missing. This is a shameful situation for the temple trust. No one is willing to come forward to offer an explanation. The government's silence is itself suspicious.’
