After gold theft, new twist at Sabarimala

The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Thursday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe alleged financial irregularities in the sale of Adiya Sishtam Ghee at the Sabarimala temple, acting on strong observations and directions issued by the Kerala High Court earlier this week.

The special team will be headed by Superintendent of Police (SP) Mahesh Kumar.

The development comes at a time when Sabarimala is already under intense public and institutional scrutiny following the recent gold heist case, adding to growing concerns over financial oversight and administrative accountability at one of the country’s most prominent temples.

The Vigilance action follows sharp criticism by a Division Bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V. and K.V. Jayakumar on Tuesday, when the High Court ordered a Vigilance probe while hearing a suo motu case initiated on the basis of a report submitted by the Sabarimala Special Commissioner.

The report flagged criminal misappropriation of proceeds from the sale of Adiya Sishtam Ghee, which is sold through various counters at the hill shrine.

In its order, the High Court observed that certain self-interested officers of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) appeared to be siphoning off temple funds.

“It appears to us that certain employees of the Travancore Devaswom Board are more interested in siphoning off amounts rather than conscientiously rendering the service entrusted to them,” the Bench said, adding that the conduct disclosed suggested a disturbing pattern in which personal gain took precedence over duty to the institution and devotees.

The court also noted that it had encountered similar instances in the past and had repeatedly deprecated the casual and indifferent manner in which revenue proceeds were handled by Board employees.

Emphasising the need for systemic reform, the Bench said transparency and accountability, supported by robust technological safeguards, were no longer matters of administrative discretion but statutory obligations binding on the Board.

It cautioned that continued failure could lead to the inference that the higher echelons of the Board were either unwilling or complicit in allowing such lapses to persist.

Following the court’s directions, the Vigilance department conducted a preliminary verification, which detected irregularities amounting to Rs 36.24 lakh.

Of this, around Rs 13 lakh was found to be linked to the sale of 13,679 packets of Adiya Sishtam Ghee, the proceeds of which were allegedly not credited to the Devaswom Board’s account.

The Devaswom Board had earlier informed the High Court that the official responsible for overseeing the ghee sale, Sunil Kumar Potti, had been placed under suspension after a preliminary inquiry found lapses in ensuring that sale proceeds reached the Board’s account.

The Vigilance probe will now examine financial records, stock movement and the role of officials involved as the investigation proceeds under court monitoring.