The Sabarimala “missing gold” scandal has widened, with the Kerala High Court observing on Friday that the gold-covered plates on the door frames of the temple’s sanctum sanctorum were handed over to a sponsor for further gold plating, and that they were recorded by the temple management as just copper plates. Earlier, the court had found that the Dwarapalaka idols at the temple, which were already gold-clad, were handed over to sponsor Unnikrishnan Potty in the same manner and recorded as copper sheets. Both incidents took place on different occasions in 2019. The High Court observed that Potty did not return 474.9 grams of gold that was left over after the gold cladding already on the idols and door frames was removed and the items were gold-plated again. After considering the interim report of the temple chief security and vigilance officer, the Division Bench of the High Court said 409 grams of gold was extracted from the door frames, and 577 grams from the Dwarapalaka idols and 14 other items, making up a total of 989 grams. The court said 404.8 grams were used for gold-plating, and expenses amounting to the cost of 109.243 grams of gold was incurred, as per Potty. “The balance of 474.9 grams of gold was handed over to Potty, but the records show that this gold was not re-entrusted to the TDB,” the court said. The TDB, or the Travancore Devaswom Board, is a state-run entity that manages the Sabarimala temple. ‘Serious offence’ Handing over of gold-clad items “mischaracterised” as copper plates, the unauthorised extraction of gold from gold-clad plates, and the misappropriation of extracted gold prima facie constitute a serious criminal offence, the court observed, asking the special investigation team to register a criminal case. The probe would cover the missing gold from Dwarapalaka idols and the door frames, in addition to any further matters that may arise during the investigation. The SIT will be directly answerable to the court. The court found that though the door frames were already gold-clad, at the behest of the temple’s executive officer, the TDB recommended handing over the plates to Potty and recorded the items simply as copper plates. This discrepancy is a matter of serious gravity, particularly since a total of 30.291 kg of gold was utilised in 1998-1999 for gold cladding of several items in Sabarimala, the court observed. Prima facie, serious lapses and derelictions on the part of the board’s officials are apparent and this warrants a thorough investigation into all aspects, the court said. The court also said copies of all seized records should be forwarded to the Registrar General of the court for safe custody. It said the SIT should submit a report before within six months.
