Coming down heavily on the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), the Kerala High Court on Monday asked what role the board played, if all major responsibilities were entrusted to businessman Unnikrishnan Potti, prime accused in the alleged misappropriation of gold from the Sabarimala temple.
A single Bench of Justice A. Badharudeen was hearing arguments by the prosecution that the gold plating of, among others, the door frames and that of the Dwarapalaka idols had been entrusted to him. The court wondered why such important works were entrusted to a single individual.
The court was hearing bail pleas of former TDB president A. Padmakumar, Bellary-based gold merchant Govardhan, and former executive officer of Sabarimala Murari Babu arraigned as accused in the case.
Questioning the TDB role, the court asked, “Then what is the duty of the Devaswom Board? It is as good as having no Devaswom Board. That would be better.”
The prosecution submitted that Mr. Padmakumar, while serving as president of the board, committed grave misconduct by deliberately making false entries in official correspondence that ultimately led to the misappropriation of gold, causing irreparable financial loss and damage to the board’s reputation.
