KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Friday directed the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) not to divert any funds to the state government for deployment of police personnel in Sabarimala without the court's permission.
A Division Bench comprising Justice PR Ramachandra Menon and Justice N Anilkumar issued the order on a petition filed by KP Sasidharan, from Aluva, seeking a directive to the state to meet all the expenditure incurred on account of deployment of police personnel, including their food and accommodation.
The petitioner alleged the government converted Sabarimala into a police camp. Around 15,000 police personnel have been deployed in Sabarimala. It is learnt the state has decided to reimburse the entire cost of deployment of police from the board. The amount will come to around `75 lakh per day, the plea stated.
When the petition came up for hearing the court asked whether the TDB has taken any decision to bear the expenses. The TDB replied it will not pay any amount to the government for deploying police. They are having food from the police mess, it stated.