JAMMU, Aug 4: The alleged Rs 550-crore “fake silver” offerings controversy at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine has entered a significant stage of judicial scrutiny, with the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Jammu, directing the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP), Bhawan, Katra, to submit a detailed enquiry report and take appropriate action on an application seeking urgent preservation of evidence.
The directions were issued by Chief Judicial Magistrate Munish Kumar Manhas on July 29, 2026, and the matter has been listed for further hearing on August 18.
The proceedings stem from a complaint filed by Advocate Deepak Sharma, who alleged adulteration, substitution, pilferage and possible misappropriation of nearly 20 tonnes of silver offerings made by devotees at the shrine, reportedly valued at around Rs 550 crore.
According to the complaint, originally submitted on May 9, 2026, to the Inspector General of Police, Crime Branch, Jammu, and the Senior Superintendent of Police, Crime Branch, Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Jammu, the matter was forwarded through various police authorities before being assigned for enquiry.
As per the report submitted before the Court by the SSP, Crime Branch (EOW), Jammu, the complaint was received on May 11, forwarded to Crime Headquarters on May 20 for approval, approved on June 9, and subsequently sent to the Inspector General of Police, Jammu Zone, on June 13. It was later referred to the SSP, Reasi, and entrusted to the DySP, Bhawan, Katra, for enquiry. The report indicated that no FIR has been registered and that the matter remains at the enquiry stage.
During the hearing on July 29, Advocate Sharma filed a detailed application seeking immediate preservation of all physical, documentary and electronic evidence related to the alleged transactions.
The application requested preservation of the remaining silver or purported silver articles, samples, remnants and residues, along with stock registers, vault records, weighing and dispatch registers, assay and laboratory reports, Government Mint records, transportation documents and the complete chain-of-custody records.
It also sought protection of CCTV footage, electronic inventory data, official emails, server logs, access records, audit trails, accounting records, reconciliation statements and other digital evidence.
The application argued that any further melting, refining, transfer or processing of the material, or deletion or overwriting of electronic records, could irreversibly affect the identity, purity, weight and chain of custody of the evidence.
Taking the application on record, the CJM directed the DySP, Bhawan, Katra, to take appropriate action on the issues raised in the evidence-preservation plea and submit a detailed report on the ongoing enquiry before the next date of hearing.
Commenting on the development, Advocate Deepak 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.”