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A bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and KV Jayakumar issued the direction observing that from the investigation conducted so far, “it appears that there has been misappropriation of gold as far as the side frames or lintels are concerned”.
The bench further said that the vigilance report placed before it also revealed that “substantial quantity of gold – approximately 474.9 grams – was handed over to Unnikrishnan Potti (the sponsor who offered to offer the gold)”.
“However, the record does not reveal that this quantity of gold was handed over (by him) to TDB,” the court said.
The bench directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by it to investigate the side frame/lintels issue along with all other aspects that came to light during their investigation.
It directed that the vigilance report be placed before the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which in turn was ordered to send it to the state police chief.
The state police chief was asked to direct ADGP (Crime Branch and Law and Order) H Venkatesh to register a criminal case in connection with the matter and initiate investigation.
According to a government order issued on October 9, ADGP Venkatesh is heading the SIT. The bench directed the SIT to “conduct a thorough, impartial and speedy investigation to bring the culprits to justice”.
The SIT was also directed to file a report within six weeks and present a status report regarding the investigation before the court once every two weeks.
The bench also said that the SIT would be “directly answerable to the court” to ensure that the investigation is conducted with utmost discretion and integrity.
The SIT was further directed not to disclose details of the investigation to the public or the media until the investigation is completed.
first published: October 10, 2025 12:35 pm Is