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Thiruvanananthapuram: The Kerala High Court expressed concerns at the ‘distinct and grave possibility’ of the original gold cladding on the Dwarapalaka idols at the Sabarimala temple having been sold and the proceeds ‘misappropriated’.
The court earlier initiated suo motu proceedings into the ‘missing gold’ scandal that has left the state deeply delving into the controversy.
The court pointed out that Unnikrishnan Potty, who had sponsored the 2019 gold-plating of the already gold-clad Dwarapalaka idols at the Sabarimala temple, informed the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) of having a ‘balance of gold’ from the work, which he wished to use for a wedding.
Potty’s revelations according to the court was deeply concerning alongside being an indicator of probable misuse of temple gold.
Alongside ordering to file a case and initiate probe by the ADGP (Crime) into the “missing gold” case, a Division Bench observed that ‘There also appears to be a distinct and grave possibility that the original gold-cladded Dwarapalakas were disposed of to a willing purchaser for a substantial monetary consideration, and that the proceeds thereof were misappropriated by those responsible for the fraud’.
The High Court initiated suo motu proceeding in the case last month after reports said that the temple’s Dwarapalaka idols were taken to Chennai without the court’s consent for gold covering six years after similar plating, The Indian Express reported.
Following that the court directed former judge K T Sankaran to prepare an inventory of the temple’s valuables. The court also directed the vigilance officer to ‘expose all malpractices’ in the temple.
Having gone through the vigilance officer’s latest report, the court on Monday said the findings indicated that criminal offences were committed, alongside pointing to ‘ensure that the actual perpetrators are brought to justice and that every aspect relating to the Dwarapalakas is fully brought to light’.
The vigilance officer in the earlier report to the High Court said the gold covering of the Dwarapalaka idols had been removed without informing the court.
When they were returned from gold-plating in 2019, the idols weighed around 4 kg less, according to the report.
It is reported citing the officials that Unnikrishnan Potty sponsored the 2019 gold-plating and took the idols to the firm Smart Creations, Chennai for the same purpose.
However, the idols had already been gold-clad in 1999 using gold donated by businessman Vijay Mallya.
The lawyer representing Smart Creations recently claimed that the plates given to them for gold-plating were copper and did not have gold cladding on them.
On Monday, the court made it clear that ‘The responsibility does not rest solely with Potty and Smart Creations, Chennai, but extends also to certain officers of the Travancore Devaswom Board. The records clearly reveal that TDB officers were privy to the transactions and to the unlawful handing over of gold, in flagrant violation of the Devaswom Manual.’