The Supreme Court on Monday suggested reconstituting the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the alleged embezzlements of donations at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, saying it would prefer if the investigation is conducted by senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who has experience in handling such cases.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said that the SIT constituted earlier was tasked with submitting a preliminary report. Therefore, it noted that a separate SIT should be formed for a full-fledged probe.
The court's observation came after Solicitor General, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, told the court that the SIT was constituted to "find out the truthfulness" and it found that "there is a cognisable offence". To this, the apex court pointed out that Lucknow Inspector General of Police (IGP) and two senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers were part of the SIT, asking whether they could conduct the main investigation to ensure fairness and transparency.
The bench, which also consisted Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, also warned against politicising the matter, pointing out that the matter is a "simple case of commission of crime". "Just a word of caution. Please don't politicise the issue. The courts are not a place for politics... We are (here) just to ensure a proper investigation," CJI Kant said.
The court, which has not passed any final order or direction in the matter so far, will hear the case again on July 27.
The top court's observation comes a day after the SIT submitted a status report to the bench in a sealed cover. The SIT was asked by the court to submit its report during the hearing on July 13. Back then, the court also issued a notice to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust over pleas seeking a thorough investigation in the matter.
"Since it is averred in some of the writ petitions that some FIRs have already been registered and an SIT has been constituted to investigate the matter, we direct the SIT constituted by the State of Uttar Pradesh to submit a status report before this court," the court had said back then.
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