The Kerala High Court on Wednesday come down heavily on the Travancore Devaswom Board over the alleged gold heist at Sabarimala temple, directing the SIT probing the case to expand its probe to include the gold-plating of newly-installed sanctum sanctorum door.
It strongly criticized the Board for serious irregularities, lack of transparency, and alleged complicity in the misappropriation of gold from the Sabarimala temple.
Calling the Sabarimala gold loss incident as gold loot, The Devaswom bench of the High Court said the Travancore Devaswom Board(TDB), which is responsible for protecting the temple property, has failed in its responsibility.
The court has ordered the SIT to investigate the circumstances surrounding the installation of a new door at the Sri Kovil (sanctum sanctorum) , suspecting a large-scale fraud involving the sponsor, Unnikrishnan Potty, in connection with this work as well. The court observed that TDB officials provided “excessive freedom” to sponsor Unnikrishnan Potty and colluded in several of his dealings
The court observed that the gold theft cannot be an isolated incident and said that it was a “well-orchestrated conspiracy” potentially involving TDB officials at various levels.
The court has emphasized that the investigation must reach everyone involved in the misappropriation of the temple’s assets.
“The investigation must reach everyone who was part of the gold theft, directly or indirectly,” the court said.
The court granted permission to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a scientific examination as part of its probe into the alleged gold plating irregularities at the Sabarimala temple.
The High Court has told the SIT that the Sabarimala gold theft started with the gold plating of the door of the shrine. This observation of the court implicates the Travancore Devaswom Board administration headed by K. Padmakumar in 2019, the period when the door was gold plated.
The court also directed that the real ‘murti’ (sponsor) who helped Unnikrishnan Potty become such a big name in the Sannidhanam and who introduced him there be found out.
The High Court has also directed to investigate the international links in the Sabarimala gold theft case The court said that it is necessary to find out whether large international rackets like Subhash Kapoor’s racket, which smuggles valuables out of the country, are involved in this fraud. The High Court has also asked the SIT to investigate all transactions since 2018.
While the initial probe focused on the Dwarapalaka (door guardian) idols, the court expanded the scope of the investigation to the “serious malpractice” related to the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) door frames as well, noting that this aspect should also be investigated by the SIT.
Earlier, the second phase of the SIT investigation report was considered by the Devaswom bench of the High Court in a closed courtroom on Wednesday morning. SP S. Sasidharan, an investigating officer in the SIT team, appeared in person in the court.
The court also examined the minute book seized by the SIT. The court has found that there were irregularities in the recording of the minutes as well.
The High Court has asked the SIT to explore whether TDB officials can be brought under the ambit of the Prevention of Corruption Act, a move that could significantly widen the scope of the legal consequences.
Meanwhile, Opposition leader VD Satheesan has demanded that former Devaswom Commissioner N Vasu be arrested in the Sabarimala gold theft case. With Vasu’s arrest, ministers and CPM leaders involved in the gold loot at Sabarimala temple will also be stuck, he said. The opposition leader also said that the term of the current Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB)will not be extended.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has on Monday N Vasu as part of the investigation into the case. The SIT in the custody application filed while producing the first accused Unnikrishnan Potty in the Ranni court, has on Tuesday stated that it was the then Devaswom Commissioner and the third accused in the case, N Vasu, who instructed the officials to write that the gold-plated layers on the Dwarapalaka sculptures at the Sabarimala shrine were made of copper.