An urgent petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking protection before digital evidence is destroyed. The Supreme Court refused to hold an urgent hearing on the matter during the summer vacation. Advocate NK Goswami told the court on Monday that CCTV footage, DVR and digital payment records can be deleted or altered very easily. Unlike inscriptions, digital evidence is not permanent, hence there is a risk of denial of justice if timely action is not taken.
Advocate Goswami made it clear to the bench headed by Justice MM Sundaresh that he was not seeking final hearing of the case, but only an order to preserve evidence. He fears that CCTV data, UPI logs, bank records, donation box accounts and vault records may be destroyed before the case is heard. The court registrar had already informed him that the plea would be heard after the summer vacation in July, but the bench did not directly respond to his comments, directing him to plead as per rules.
Last week, two lawyers, Ajay Kumar Roy and Dinesh Kumar Yadav, filed a petition seeking a CBI or SIT probe in the money laundering case. Still, Justice Sundaresh said, nothing in Mahabharata is impure if the hearing is held after the ban. Goswami’s plea said that donations to public temples are the property of the deities and their custodians should be responsible and transparent in all respects. In October 2025, in a case of Government of Kerala v Guruvayur Devaswam Management Committee, the Supreme Court ruled that money or goods donated by devotees become the exclusive property of the deity.
The suit not only seeks to secure evidence, but also asks for an impartial forensic audit of all donations and valuables received by the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerthkshetra Trust since its inception till date. The petitioner also demanded formation of an expert committee to formulate a national-level cleanliness policy for all major temples in the country, including the Ram temple in Ayodhya and the birthplace of Lord Krishna in Mathura. This policy will ensure transparency in proper accounting of donations, CCTV storage, bank transactions etc. without any interference in temple rituals or pujas, the petition said.