Kochi | The Kerala High Court on Monday ordered the vigilance department to probe alleged misappropriation of gold and money in connection with the installation of a new temple flag mast at the Sabarimala shrine in 2017.
The direction was issued by a Division Bench comprising Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and K V Jayakumar while reviewing the progress of the investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the alleged loss of gold from the Sabarimala Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) plates and the doorframes of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum).
The court noted that it had earlier directed that all complaints relating to the Sannidhanam be forwarded to the SIT.
However, its attention was drawn to a preliminary inquiry conducted by the Devaswom Vigilance on a complaint lodged by a devotee.
S Sasidharan, the SIT investigating officer, and the Sabarimala Chief Vigilance and Security Officer submitted before the court that the complaint related to alleged acts of misappropriation of gold and cash in connection with the installation of the new temple flag mast in 2017.
A preliminary scrutiny of the relevant mahazars and connected records was undertaken by the SIT and placed before the court.
After examining the records, the court noted that the decision to replace the existing flag mast was taken on the premise that the old mast had substantially deteriorated due to wear and tear.
The court recalled that by an order dated August 3, 2016, a Division Bench of the High Court had recorded the submission of the Travancore Devaswom Board that the work relating to the installation of the new flag mast would be undertaken entirely at the expense of Phoenix Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, Hyderabad.
The court had directed that the work be supervised by the Thiruvabharanam Commissioner, the Devaswom Chief Engineer (General) and Advocate Commissioner A S P Kurup, and granted approval for the work to proceed expeditiously.
While granting approval, the court had categorically directed that all gold elements, whether in the form of ‘paras’ or otherwise, connected with the existing mast, along with all other valuable materials, be properly retained, inventoried and accounted for by the Travancore Devaswom Board in accordance with due procedure.
The court noted from the records placed by the Chief Vigilance Officer that 9.161 kilograms of gold was purchased from the Customs Department on March 22, 2017.
It was also noted that for the flag mast project, a bank account was opened at Dhanlaxmi Bank, Pathanamthitta, in the name of the Devaswom Executive Officer.
An estimate of Rs 3.20 crore submitted by the Devaswom Chief Engineer was approved by the Board on September 23, 2016.
The court further found that a total of 412 grams of gold was contributed by devotees for the project.
"Thus, the total quantity of gold available, including Customs purchase and donations, was 9,573.010 grams, whereas the quantity recorded as utilised for the flag mast was 9,340.200 grams," the court observed.
According to the court, as per the Devaswom Manual and established practice, whenever gold, valuables or cash are donated by devotees, sealed receipts in Form 3A must mandatorily be issued specifying the exact quantity and particulars of the donation.
"In the present case, except for general recitals that gold was donated by devotees, the specific quantity donated by each individual does not find proper reflection in the records. More importantly, the absence of individual donor receipts renders it impossible to verify the exact quantity donated," the court said.
The absence of individual donor receipts also leaves donors without documentary proof of accounting, constituting a serious procedural lapse and a grave violation of Devaswom Rules and financial accountability norms, the court noted.
The Chief Vigilance Officer submitted that the discrepancies noticed were of a grave nature and warranted a detailed enquiry to rule out offences such as criminal misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, falsification of records and cheating, punishable under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
The court observed that it would not be appropriate to entrust the probe relating to the alleged misappropriation of gold connected with the flag mast to the SIT, which is already investigating other serious offences pursuant to earlier directions.
However, the court said the matter required an independent vigilance enquiry and directed the Director, Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, to conduct a preliminary enquiry to ascertain whether cognisable offences were disclosed.
The court directed that all records relating to the construction and installation of the temple flag mast be forwarded to the VACB Director.
"The Director shall constitute a team of competent and upright officers to conduct a preliminary enquiry, including recording statements of donors and examining financial and material records, and shall file a report before this Court within a period of 30 days from today," the court ordered.
