Kerala High Court appoints retired judge to record all valuables in Sabarimala

Earlier, the court had suo motu initiated proceedings based on a report by the chief security and vigilance officer that the gold covering of the ‘Dwarapalaka’ idols on either side of the temple’s sanctum sanctorum had been removed without informing the court.

Apart from appointing the former judge to prepare the inventory of valuables at the temple, the court has directed the vigilance officer to investigate and “expose all malpractices” at the temple.

After going through various reports from the vigilance officer and the state-run Travancore Devaswom Board, as well as temple records, the court found serious lapses on the part of temple authorities in handling valuable properties.

The major findings are:

*All repair work on the Dwarapalakas and Peedams was to be carried out at the temple sannidhanam itself. Contrary to this, the gold-clad plates were handed over directly to Bengaluru-based Unnikrishna Potty, who had sponsored them.

*Traditional methods and multiple layers of thin gold leaves were used to withstand daily rituals and natural wear and tear. Yet, no registers detailing the quantity of gold used were maintained.

*Potty had said that another set of Dwarapalaka idols was stored in the strong room. Despite diligent efforts, the chief vigilance and security officer could not locate such a set. No records exist detailing the quantity of gold used for the Dwajasthambam, Dwarapalakas, or Peedams.

*Potty, acting as sponsor, obtained permission to undertake fresh gold plating of the Dwarapalaka idols in July 2019. A mahazar next month recorded that the total weight of the returned items was only 38.258 kg. There is a glaring and unexplained reduction of 4.541 kg from the weight noted at Sannidhanam when the items were handed over. Since the gold cladding is the only component susceptible to such diminution, this discrepancy demands thorough investigation, the court said.

Finding that the weight of the Dwarapalakas and the peedams were not recorded at the time of re-fixing, the court said, “This failure, whether negligent or deliberate, is unacceptable and evidences serious systemic flaws and administrative lapses.”

The court observed that although the valuable articles were entrusted to the sponsor, there was a delay on his part in handing over the items to the gold-plating firm. “This delay and the reasons for the same are to be investigated to rule out any foul play,” it said.

The court also took a serious note of the recovery of an additional set of gold-plated Dwarapalaka idols or Peedams from the house of Potty’s sister in Thiruvananthapuram recently.

“This discovery highlights the secretive and irregular manner in which valuable temple property has been handled. The Devaswom officials are equally, if not more, culpable for placing such priceless items in the custody of a person (Potty) with questionable antecedents,” the court said.