The Kerala High Court (HC) on Tuesday held an in-camera hearing for the case concerning the alleged loss of gold from gold-plated copper plates covering the ‘Dwarapalaka idols’ (door guardian) at the Sabarimala temple.
The case was taken up suo motu after the controversies on gold loss pointed towards main priest and people running the administration of the temple. The decision to conduct the proceedings in-camera was notified by the Court’s Registry on Monday.
Thea Division Bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and KV Jayakumar heard the matter on Tuesday but restricted public and media access to the hearing.
The Bench had ordered a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the case and warned the media against sensationalising the issue. The Court also directed all officers involved in the investigation to refrain from sharing information with the media.
The Investigating officer handed over an interim report in a sealed cover. The Court has been monitoring this sensitive matter since September, after reports revealed procedural lapses and discrepancies in the handling of the gold-plated copper plates that covered the Dwarapalaka idols in the sanctum sanctorum at Sabarimala. Suo motu proceedings had been initiated based on a report by the Sabarimala Special Commissioner.
The report raised concerns that the gold-plated copper coverings were sent for repair works to Smart Creations, a Chennai-based firm, without prior intimation to the Court or Commissioner.
The Court took a serious view of a discrepancy of around 4.54 kilograms between the gold sent for repair and the gold reportedly received by the firm for repair.
The High Court which is handling series of causes related to the famous temple was observed that 42.8 kg of gold-plated items were handed over to a devotee named Unnikrishnan Potti, who sponsored repair works and sent the items to the firm. However, the firm’s records showed receipt of only about 38 kg of items for repair.
The Court observed that such inconsistencies, coupled with the lack of oversight from Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) authorities during transport and handling of the items, called for an independent and court-monitored probe.
The Court also found that the State Government controlled Travancore Devaswam Board (TDB) registers on temple jewellery lacked accuracy.
It, therefore, appointed retired judge Justice KT Sankaran to oversee the conduct of a fresh and thorough inventory of all valuables at the Sabarimala temple.
Given the sensitive nature of the case, the Court held an in-camera hearing of the matter today. An interim order has also been dictated by the Court today, which is yet to be made public.
The High Court, while assigning the case to the SIT, had directed the team to file a progress report within two weeks and set a six-week deadline to complete the investigation.
Subsequently, a vigilance report highlighted lapses by Devaswom officials in connection with the gold loss, prompting the court to direct the SIT to register a criminal case and initiate a probe.
Following this, the SIT registered two cases related to missing gold from the plates of the Dwarapalaka idols and the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) door frame, arraigning 10 people, including Bengaluru-based Unnikrishnan Potty and some Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) officials, as accused. Potty, who had sponsored the electroplating of the gold-clad copper plates on the Dwarapalaka idols and Sreekovil door frames in 2019, was later arrested.
