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Guruvayur temple’s SUV finally auctioned for ₹43 lakh
Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple in Kerala re-auctioned a Thar sports utility vehicle (SUV), presented by the Mahindra Group last December, for ₹43 lakh on Monday following a high court order over an earlier auction.
Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple in Kerala re-auctioned a Thar sports utility vehicle (SUV), presented by the Mahindra Group last December, for ₹43 lakh on Monday following a high court order over an earlier auction.
UAE-based businessman Vignesh Vijaykumar was the highest bidder at the fiercely-competed re-auction between 15 people. The bid crossed ₹33 lakh in the first round, and the re-auction was about to end at ₹40.50 lakh when Vijaykumar’s representative raised the amount to ₹43 lakh to seal the deal.
The new version SUV was gifted to the temple on December 4 last year, and an auction was subsequently held on December 18.
However, the vehicle fetched only ₹15.10 lakh from lone-bidder a Bahrain-based NRI Amal Mohammed Ali during the auction which started at a base price of ₹15 lakh. Allegations erupted amid devotees that auctioning was not given enough publicity, and only a single contender participated.
Later, some devotees and Hindu Seve Sangham, a religious outfit, approached the high court a week after the auction, citing several anomalies in the first round. The court directed the DevaswomBoard commissioner Biju Prabhakar to hear the plea of the aggrieved parties and decide on the matter. Subsequently, the commissioner decided to go for a re-auction of the vehicle.
“We can’t put the price for the God. It is God’s property. We came prepared to take the SUV, and it is special to us,” said K Anoop, who represented Vijaykumar, hailing from the Malappuram district. He said Vijaykumar is heading a group of companies in the middle-east and is an ardent devotee of the temple. Besides the ₹43 lakh, he also has to pay the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and other formalities to get the vehicle registered in his name. The final price is expected to be almost double the market price, which ranges is between ₹13 and ₹20 lakh.
