Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Friday directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the case related to the alleged gold theft incident.
The court has directed that the investigation be completed and a report submitted within six weeks. The court said, the investigation should be kept strictly confidential. No information related to the investigation should be leaked. The division bench of the High Court has also directed in an interim order that the special investigation team should submit a sealed cover directly to the court.
The court directed that the special investigation team should only inform the court about the investigation. The investigation information should not be disclosed to anyone else. The High Court has also prohibited Unnikrishnan Potty from speaking to the media on the Sabarimala issue. The High Court has also made the state police chief a party in the case.
The court further directed that the documents currently seized in the case be kept safe with the registrar. Considering the complexity of the case, the court has directed that the investigation team can be expanded. Two more DySPs will be included in the team. The High Court has found the action of the Travancore Devaswom Board, which provided gold-plated gold plates to Unnikrishnan Potty in 2019 for gold plating, to be questionable.
The court observed, not only the Dwarapalaka sculptures, but also the front and back doors of the shrine were covered in gold. This was recorded on 18-5-2019. The Thantri, Melshanthi, watcher, guard, etc. were present on that day. The court assessed that the Vigilance Officer had thoroughly investigated all these matters. When Unnikrishnan handed over the plates to Potty, it was recorded that these were copper plates.
The Devaswom Vigilance SP was present in person and submitted the final report to the High Court in the morning. Subsequently, the bench comprising Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan and K.V. Jayakumar, which examined the report, also held a separate discussion with SP S. Sasidharan, the head of the Special Investigation Team.
Meanwhile, Devaswom Minister VN Vasavan said that any irregularities in the functioning of the Devaswom Board will be investigated. Reacting to the opposition's demand for the resignation of former Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran and his own, he stated that no case has been registered against them in court.
"The Opposition is demanding that former Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran resign from his MLA post and that I resign from my ministerial position. Do we have any cases filed against either of us in any court?" he said.
He further added, "If there are any irregularities in the functioning of the Devaswom Board, the government will investigate them. The government's stance is that the culprits must be brought before the law. If anyone has taken even a single piece of gold from the Sabarimala temple, it will be returned there, and strong legal action will be taken."
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