KOCHI: Kerala High Court on Monday directed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau director to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the alleged misappropriation of gold in connection with the installation of new flag mast at the Sabarimala temple in 2017.
The court ordered that all files, records, mahazars, accounts, and documents relating to the construction and installation of the temple flag mast should be forwarded to the VACB.
The chief vigilance officer, TDB, submitted that the discrepancies noticed are of a grave nature and warrant a detailed inquiry to rule out offences such as criminal misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, falsification of records, and cheating.
The records placed before the court revealed that on March 22,2017, 9.161 kg of gold was purchased from the customs department. Then an account was opened at Dhanlaxmi Bank, Pathanamthitta, in the name of the devaswom executive officer. An estimate for Rs 3,20,30,000 submitted by the devaswom chief engineer was approved by the Board on September 23,2016.
The court pointed out that the total quantity of gold available, including customs purchase and donations, was 9,573.010 gm, whereas the quantity recorded as utilised for the flag mast was 9,340.200 gm. The mahazar dated June 5, 2017 records that an actor and other devotees handed over 80.490 gm of gold to the advocate vommissioner.
The gold was entrusted to Venkitesh, the artisan. On June 10, 2017, a movie producer and another individual handed over 246.520 gm of certified gold biscuits of 999.9 purity to the advocate commissioner, which was in turn handed over to the thiruvabharanam commissioner. Similar entrustments are recorded on several days with gold being handed over through mahazars.
The absence of individual donor receipts renders it impossible to verify the exact quantity donated.