The Supreme Court on Monday, July 20, cautioned against politicising the alleged theft of donations meant for the Ram temple in Ayodhya, as it heard a batch of petitions seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation and an independent audit of the temple trust’s finances.It is a simple case of commission of offence… we are cautioning — do not politicise this issue,” Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said, heading a bench that also included Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana. Indicating that it would pass some directions in the matter, the bench put off further hearing to go through a status report filed by the Uttar Pradesh government on the investigation so farThe fourth petition, by the Hindu Dharma Parishad, seeks a top court-monitored probe into the donation allegations. Separately, the Allahabad High Court has declined to entertain similar pleas seeking a high-level probe, to avoid parallel proceedings running alongside the Supreme Court case. An FIR has already been registered by the Uttar Pradesh Police following a preliminary inquiry by the state-appointed SIT. The Nirmohi Akhara has also separately approached the Supreme Court seeking that the trust be restructured as a public trust, arguing that its present structure lacks adequate accountability and does not reflect the spirit of the top court’s 2019 Ayodhya verdict.