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Vaishno Devi ‘ ₹550-crore fake silver’ offering row: Jammu court seeks report, action on evidence-preservation plea
Court has directed police to investigate alleged misappropriation of 20 tonnes of silver offerings at Vaishno Devi shrine estimated at ₹550 crores.
A local court has sought detailed inquiry report from the Jammu and Kashmir Police into the alleged ₹550-crore “fake silver” offerings row at the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine.
The court of the chief judicial magistrate, Jammu, headed by Munish Kumar Manhas, directed the deputy superintendent of police, Vaishno Devi Bhawan in Katra, to submit a detailed inquiry report and take appropriate action regarding the facts stated in an application seeking urgent preservation of the evidence.
The directions were passed on July 29. The matter has been listed for further proceedings on August 18.
What is it about
The proceedings stemmed from an application filed by advocate Deepak Sharma. Sharma had submitted a complaint to the inspector general of police; crime branch, Jammu; and the senior superintendent of police (SSP); crime branch; economic offences wing, Jammu, on May 9, alleging adulteration, substitution, pilferage and possible misappropriation of approximately 20 tonnes of silver offerings made by devotees at the shrine, which reportedly valued at around ₹550 crores.
According to the report placed before the court by the SSP, Crime Branch (EOW), the Crime Branch received the complaint on May 11 and forwarded it to its headquarters on May 20 for approval regarding the further course of action. Headquarters approved its reference to the Jammu Zonal police headquarters, following which it was forwarded to the Jammu Zone inspector general of police on June 13.
The matter was subsequently referred to the Reasi SSP for inquiry and was ultimately entrusted to the deputy SP, Bhawan, Katra.
The report did not disclose registration of any FIR and indicated that the matter remained at the inquiry stage.
Detailed application filed
During the July 29 hearing, Sharma filed a detailed application seeking immediate preservation of the physical, documentary and electronic evidence connected with the alleged transactions.
It was submitted that any further melting, refining, transfer or processing of the physical material or deletion or overwriting of electronic records could irreversibly affect the identity, composition, weight, purity and chain of custody of the evidence.
Taking the application on record, the court directed the deputy SP, Bhawan, to take appropriate action regarding the facts stated in the evidence-preservation plea and to submit a detailed report regarding the enquiry being conducted by him on the next date of hearing.
Commenting on the development, Sharma said, “The order brings both the pending enquiry and the preservation of potentially crucial evidence under direct judicial scrutiny. My immediate concern is to ensure that no physical, documentary or electronic evidence is altered, melted, transferred, destroyed, deleted or overwritten.”
