The Kerala High Court granted the SIT another six weeks to continue probing the Sabarimala gold theft case. Earlier, it had directed investigators to expose the wider conspiracy behind the alleged misappropriation of sacred temple valuables and ensure accountability.
KERALA: The Kerala High Court has granted the Special Investigation Team (SIT) an additional six weeks to continue its inquiry into the Sabarimala gold theft case.
Earlier, in October, the Court had instructed the SIT, which is investigating the Sabarimala “missing gold” controversy, to uncover the broader conspiracy related to the alleged misappropriation of sacred temple treasures.
The SIT has already delivered an interim report to a Bench composed of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan and K.V. Jayakumar.
The Court had orderd that the investigation,
“shall extend to uncovering the larger conspiracy, identifying the officials of the Travancore Devaswom Board … who may have colluded to conceal the misappropriation of gold from the gold-cladded plates, and determining whether the entrustment of the Dwarapalakas … in the year 2025 formed part of a broader scheme to suppress the pilferage that occurred in 2019.”
Addressing the accountability of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), the Court stressed that senior officials could not escape responsibility by shifting the blame to their subordinates.
The court stated,
“The higher officials of the board cannot absolve themselves of responsibility or shift the blame onto subordinate officers, for each of them bore a collective duty to ensure that the sacred valuables of the deity were neither pilfered nor wasted.”
On October 6, the Court had ordered the constitution of an SIT after serious discrepancies surfaced regarding the weight of the gold plates adorning the Dwarapalaka idols.
The Bench directed that the SIT, headed by Superintendent of Police S. Sasidharan, function confidentially and under Court supervision. This direction followed a Vigilance report revealing serious administrative lapses.
The High Court had also ordered a detailed inventory and valuation of valuables at the Sabarimala Sreekovil after uncovering irregularities in record-keeping and management of gold-plated idols and Peedams.
Investigations indicated that in 2019, the TDB removed gold-plated copper sheets and pedestals from the Dwarapalaka idols for refurbishment by a Chennai based firm, Smart Creations. According to the mahazar dated July 19, 2019, the copper plates weighed 25.400 kg and the Peedams weighed 17.400 kg, totaling 42.800 kg. However, upon arrival in Chennai on August 29, 2019, their weight was noted as only 38.258 kg, revealing a deficit of 4.541 kg.
Furthermore, there was no documentation of weights during reinstallation in September 2019, no records tracked the quantity of gold used, and systematic record-keeping of cladding materials was lacking.
The Court noted that while the idols were originally gold-plated in 1999 and photographic evidence from 2013 confirmed complete gold cladding, documentation remained grossly inadequate. Matters escalated when a Vigilance raid on September 27, 2025 at the residence of Mini, sister of seventh respondent Unnikrishnan Potty, unearthed gold-plated Peedams hidden in a sealed cover.
The Court termed the concealment,
“sensational and shocking,” criticising the TDB for handing priceless temple assets to a private sponsor with “questionable antecedents.”
The Court further condemned the TDB for its “casual and negligent” handling of sacred wealth and highlighted systemic failures in oversight and record maintenance.
Case Title: Suo Motu vs State of Kerala and Ors
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