New Delhi, July 21 -- The Supreme Court on Monday cautioned all parties against politicising the investigation into the alleged embezzlement of donations received at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, while asking the Uttar Pradesh government to consider placing the ongoing police investigation under the supervision of the same three-member special investigation team (SIT) that had first uncovered prima facie evidence of the alleged fraud. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana directed the state to obtain instructions on reconstituting the SIT and fixed the matter for July 27, when it will examine the progress of the probe, the state's response and decide whether any further directions are required. "Don't play politics...Don't politicise the issue. It is a simple and prima facie case of commission of an offence and investigations have to be taken to their logical end in a fair, impartial and dispassionate manner," observed the bench while hearing a batch of petitions seeking an independent probe into the alleged financial irregularities in the affairs of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government and the Centre, informed the court that investigations were progressing, eight accused had been arrested and a detailed status report had been filed. He further submitted that the investigation had been taken over by the local police after the earlier SIT completed its preliminary inquiry. The bench, however, suggested that the same senior officials who conducted the preliminary probe should supervise the criminal investigation as well. "We would like you to take instructions whether the same SIT which examined the issue earlier can supervise the investigation. Those senior officials have first-hand experience of the matter," the bench told Mehta, referring to the committee comprising Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, Inspector General of Police Kiran S and Special Secretary (Finance) Neel Ratan. Mehta, assisted by senior additional advocate general Sharan Dev Singh Thakur, responded that the state could consider such an arrangement and would return with appropriate instructions on the next date. The three-member SIT was constituted on June 13 at the request of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. It submitted its nine-page preliminary report on June 23, following which Ayodhya police registered an FIR against eight people allegedly involved in siphoning off donations during the counting process. All eight accused have since been arrested and nearly Rs.80 lakh allegedly diverted from temple donations has been recovered from various locations linked to them. During the hearing, senior advocate Devadatt Kamat, appearing for RJD MP Sudhakar Singh, urged the court to direct the Trust to place records of donations received from devotees in the public domain so that contributors could verify whether their money had actually reached the temple. "The allegation is that devotees donated money after obtaining receipts but the money never reached the temple. Those receipts should be uploaded on the Trust's website," Kamat submitted. The bench responded that proper maintenance of records was essential. "Not only on the website, there must be a well-maintained record," it observed. Kamat also sought directions for maintaining and publishing an inventory of gold, silver and other valuables donated by devotees, alleging reports that some precious offerings had gone missing. The bench, however, cautioned that practical difficulties would have to be considered. "You also have to be practical. Tomorrow somebody may claim to have donated diamonds. Wherever receipts are issued, that record should certainly be maintained," it replied. Mehta assured the bench that the state had no objection to suggestions aimed at improving transparency and informed the court that inventories of valuables were already being maintained. The bench said it would examine the confidential status report filed by the state along with the suggestions advanced by the petitioners before deciding what further directions were warranted to strengthen the investigation and improve the accounting mechanism governing temple donations. The controversy surfaced in June after allegations that donations worth several crores were siphoned off before being deposited into the temple's designated bank accounts. Amid the ongoing investigation, former Trust general secretary Champat Rai and former trustee Anil Mishra resigned, with their resignations being accepted by the Trust earlier this month. One of the petitions in the top court has been filed by petitioner-in-person Narendra Kumar Goswami, who has sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged scam along with an audit of the Trust's finances by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). A separate petition by advocates Ajay Kumar Rai and Dinesh Kumar Yadav seeks similar directions for registration of an FIR and a fair, independent and time-bound CBI investigation into the alleged diversion of donations collected at the temple. The third plea, filed by RJD MP Singh, seeks a court-monitored CBI investigation coupled with a comprehensive forensic audit of the Trust's finances. Besides seeking a forensic examination of all donations, transactions and assets of the Trust by an independent agency, Singh has urged the court to direct preservation of all financial records, including physical documents, digital ledgers, UPI transaction logs and bank statements, to prevent any alleged tampering with evidence. This petition further seeks the constitution of a court-monitored oversight mechanism and prays that, pending completion of the investigation, the Trust be restrained from undertaking major financial or administrative decisions, including award of substantial contracts, investments, utilisation of Trust funds, creation of third-party rights or alienation of assets without prior approval of the proposed oversight committee. During the investigation, police have recovered cash from multiple accused, with the highest recovery of Rs 20.39 lakh....