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Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 5 (IANS) Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president and MLA Sunny Joseph on Wednesday accused the Pinarayi Vijayan-led state government of trying to protect the accused in the Sabarimala gold plating case by extending the tenure of the current Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).
Joseph’s statement came hours after the Kerala High Court on Wednesday allowed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a scientific investigation as part of its probe into alleged gold plating irregularities at the Sabarimala temple.
Meanwhile, BJP state unit president Rajeev Chandrashekhar on Wednesday said he would approach Governor Rajendra V. Arlekar and insist that he should not give his approval to the expansion of the current TDB board.
The TDB has a tenure of three years after which the state government appoints a new team or extends the tenure of the existing board. The tenure of the present three-member TDB is ending soon. There is speculation that the Vijayan government is keen to give a new term to the existing board.
Joseph alleged that the government’s decision to allegedly extend the tenure of the current Devaswom board administration was part of a deliberate attempt to protect those involved in the scam, including board members and political figures.
“The move to extend the tenure of the board is not for administrative convenience but to protect the accused,” Joseph said. He said that the government had created time and opportunity to destroy important evidence.
Criticizing the lack of progress in the investigation despite a month of strong comments from the High Court, Joseph said that “there has been no effective inquiry, no recovery of the lost gold, and the investigation is almost at a standstill”.
He said that without the constant monitoring of the High Court, the case would have been quietly suppressed.
Incidentally, the current Devaswom board president, PS Prashanth, is a former Congress leader from Thiruvananthapuram, who joined the CPI-M after losing the 2021 assembly elections as a Congress candidate.
After his defection, he was rewarded with the key post of TDB President.
The KPCC chief demanded that the government dissolve the current board and ensure that all the culprits are punished.
“We need a conclusive investigation, not a cover-up,” he said.
–IANS
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