The special investigation team probing the alleged Sabarimala gold theft has sought prosecution sanction from the Travancore Devaswom Board’s administrative department before filing a chargesheet in the doorframe case, nearly a year after the first information report was registered.
The sanction request concerns allegations that gold-plated doorframes, known as kattilapadi, were handed over by the Travancore Devaswom Board to Unnikrishnan Potti in violation of established procedures. The SIT’s case is that Potti and his associates subsequently extracted gold from the panels.
Because former officials and office-bearers of the Travancore Devaswom Board are among the accused, the investigating team approached the devaswom department secretary for the mandatory approval to prosecute. The report was forwarded through the director general of police ahead of the court’s review of the investigation’s progress.
The chargesheet will be filed before the Kollam vigilance court if the department grants sanction after obtaining legal advice. The request comes after the court criticised the delay in filing the final report in the case.
There were initially 13 accused in the doorframe case. Murari Babu, a former administrative officer of the Travancore Devaswom Board, died recently. The remaining accused named in the investigation include Potti, devaswom assistant commissioner Shyam Prakash, former devaswom commissioner N Vasu, former TDB executive officer D Sudheesh Kumar, former Thiruvabharanam commissioner Baiju and former board president A Padmakumar.
Other accused include Smart Creations chief executive officer Pankaj Bhandari, jewellery trader Govardhan, former board members Vijayakumar and K P Sankaradas, and tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru. The case places the focus on the procedures used to transfer valuable temple fixtures, the officials responsible for authorising such transfers and the chain of custody after the material left the temple administration’s control.
The High Court has separately granted the SIT additional time to complete its investigation and file the chargesheet in the dwarapalaka, or guardian deity, panel case. That matter is another component of the wider Sabarimala gold theft investigation.
The High Court also considered petitions seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the alleged theft, including one filed by the BJP state president. The prosecution informed the court that final reports had not yet been filed in either case. The court said it would consider the demand for a CBI investigation after the final reports are submitted.
The immediate procedural step in the doorframe case is the devaswom department’s decision on the prosecution sanction. The SIT is expected to file its chargesheet before the Kollam vigilance court after the approval is granted.
