Criticising the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) for its alleged failure to maintain proper registers of valuables at the Sabarimala temple, the Kerala High Court has directed that a comprehensive inventory and expert evaluation of the valuables at the temple be carried out.
The court appointed K.T. Sankaran, retired judge of the Kerala High Court, to depute a reputed and trustworthy jewel appraiser of proven expertise to conduct an appraisal of all items in the strong room, those recorded in the Thiruvabharanam register and those which are gold-cladded.
Such documentation is crucial to assess the exact quantity and worth of the temple’s valuables, the court said and directed the Vigilance Officer to examine ‘lapses’ on the matter by Devaswom officials. This comes in the wake of a report submitted by the Sabarimala Special Commissioner regarding the alleged removal of gold-claded copper coverings of the Dwarapalaka idols from the temple without his permission and their transportation to a firm in Chennai for repair works.
A Division Bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V. and Justice K.V. Jayakumar was hearing the proceedings initiated suo motu on the basis of a report submitted by the Special Commissioner on the issue.
‘Continue probe’
The court went on to direct the Chief Vigilance and Security Officer to continue the investigation in a firm manner and to bring to light the discrepancies. He also ought to investigate the lapses, if any, by Devaswom officials, considering that the gold-cladded copper coverings were handed over to the sponsor, Unnikrishnan Potty, in a very casual manner. The matter has been posted for hearing in October end.
The High Court had on September 17 ordered a probe into the alleged discrepancies that led to the weight of the gold-cladded copper coverings coming down by over 4 kg from 42.80 kg, since 2019. The same day, it directed the Chief Vigilance and Security Officer (a Superintendent of Police) of the TDB to investigate the matter and submit a report within three weeks.
