Sabarimala Tantri's Bail Challenged in Kerala HC Over Alleged Gold Misappropriation

The SIT probing the alleged misappropriation of gold from Sabarimala temple artefacts has moved the Kerala High Court to cancel the bail of tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru, claiming that the relief granted to him has resulted in a 'grave miscarriage of justice'.

The Special Investigation Team is probing the alleged misappropriation of gold from the Dwarapalaka idols and the door frames of the Sreekovil of the temple. Rajeevaru is the 16th accused in the Dwarapalaka case and the 13th accused in the Sreekovil case.

The SIT has challenged the bail granted to the tantri in the Dwarapalaka case and will also challenge the bail granted in the Sreekovil case in the coming days. The SIT has claimed that the vigilance court granted the relief to the tantri 'by ignoring all the facts, circumstances, role played by the respondent and other issues, evidence on record, necessity of further custody and the strong objections raised by the prosecution'.

The SIT has also sought expunging of the adverse remarks made by the vigilance court regarding the investigation. It has claimed that the 'unwarranted and unnecessary observations' by the special court will interfere with the ongoing investigation as well.

The SIT has further said that the tantri was, at the relevant time, holding ultimate authority in matters concerning rituals and religious sanctity of the temple and the probe has revealed that he had furnished a typed opinion dated June 18, 2019 agreeing with the proposal of re-plating the gold-cladded artefacts pursuant to an application submitted by Unnikrishnan Potty, the main accused in the cases.

The opinion submitted by the tantri formed the basis for the decision of the Travancore Devaswom Board to hand over the artefacts to Potty, the SIT has claimed. It has contended that its probe revealed that the tantri was physically present at the Sannidhanam on July 19, 2019 when the first mahazar was prepared and that he signed the document in which the gold-cladded artefacts were falsely described as mere copper plates, allowing them to be taken out of the temple premises.