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Kerala HC asks SIT to probe role of TDB officials involved in Sabarimala gold pilferage
The high court recorded its satisfaction with the manner in which the SIT is proceeding with its investigation and directed it to investigate the aspect of criminal conspiracy since the chain of events beginning in 2019 “appear to be part of a larger and well-orchestrated scheme”
Kochi: The Kerala high court on Tuesday, hearing the suo motu issue of pilferage of gold from the ‘Dwarapalaka’ sculptures at the Sabarimala temple, directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to extend its investigation to uncover the ‘larger conspiracy’ involving officials of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) in suppressing the theft of gold assets since 2019.
The division bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and KV Jayakumar conducted the hearing in-camera, restricting the attendance of the public and the media, to protect the secrecy of the entire case, and examined the preliminary report filed by the SIT on its actions taken so far.
The high court recorded its satisfaction with the manner in which the SIT is proceeding with its investigation and directed it to investigate the aspect of criminal conspiracy since the chain of events beginning in 2019 “appear to be part of a larger and well-orchestrated scheme.”
“The investigation shall extend to uncovering the larger conspiracy, identifying the officials of the TDB who may have colluded to conceal the misappropriation of gold from the gold-cladded plates and determining whether the entrustment of the Dwarapalakas in the year 2025 formed part of a broader scheme to suppress the pilferage that occurred in 2019. The SIT shall examine every facet of the matter and ascertain the role and complicity, if any, of each officer of the TDB, from the highest echelons downwards,” the high court order stated.
“The higher officials of the Travancore Devaswom Board cannot absolve themselves of responsibility or shift the blame onto subordinate officers, for each of them bore a collective duty to ensure that the sacred valuables of the deity were neither pilfered nor wasted,” the court said.
From the details of the SIT investigation, the HC noted that Unnikrishnan Potty, the key accused in the pilfering of gold, was wrongfully permitted by the Devaswom officials to retain around 409 grams of gold extracted from the side frames of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. The court said that the officials were fully aware of the fact and yet did not take any steps to recover the gold.
The TDB officials, the high court said, chose to disregard the instruction in the Board’s sub-group manual that repair works concerning the gold-cladded plates be carried out within the temple premises itself.
Despite previous lapses on his part, the TDB handed over the Dwarapalaka sculptures and the gold-plated pedestals to Potty instead of initiating a transparent tender or expert consultations, the court pointed out.
Potty “was allowed over a month to transport the Dwarapalakas across states, to exhibit them publicly and to solicit donations. We harbour serious doubts whether the Dwarapalakas returned were the same as those entrusted”, the court underlined.
“The sequence of events unmistakably indicates that the TDB officials consciously attempted to hand over the gold-cladded Dwarapalakas secretly to Potty in 2025 to suppress the earlier gold pilferage. This explains why the permission of the Special Commissioner was not sought, despite a binding order of this court,” the high court said.
While Potty has already been arrested by the SIT in the case, another person named Anantha Subramanyam, who is allegedly involved in collecting the plates from Sabarimala, is being questioned in custody.
The HC posted the case for further hearing to November 5.
