Kochi, Mar 26 (PTI) The Kerala High Court on Thursday allowed the VACB to close the proceedings in connection with the installation of a new temple flag mast at Sabarimala in 2017, after the agency said it could not find any evidence of criminal misappropriation regarding the gold donated for the work.
A bench of justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and K V Jayakumar said it was satisfied with the manner in which the enquiry has been conducted and was inclined to accept the preliminary enquiry report submitted by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB).
“The VACB may close the proceedings,” the bench said.
The VACB, in its report, said that as per the Devaswom mahazars and records, a total of 412.010 grams of gold was shown as received from devotees for the construction of the new flag mast at Sabarimala.
It said that on contacting each of the individuals named in the records, it found that the cumulative quantity of gold they actually donated was 300 grams.
The VACB told the court that on the basis of the preliminary enquiry and the documentary as well as oral evidence it collected, “there is no material to suggest any criminal misappropriation or criminal breach of trust in respect of the gold donated by devotees for the flag mast installation process”.
The VACB probe was ordered by the High Court after the Devaswom vigilance enquiry into the flag mast installation allegedly found some irregularities.
The VACB report will be a relief for the Congress-led UDF, as the gold for the flag mast was collected by a Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) appointed by it.
The CPI(M) had also alleged large-scale irregularities in the collection of gold for the work.
The issue arose while the court was monitoring the probe into the alleged misappropriation of gold from the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols and Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) door frames at Sabarimala.
On Thursday, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the two cases told the court that gold samples collected from the idols and door frames have been forwarded for scientific analysis to the National Metallurgical Laboratory (CSIR-NML) at Jamshedpur, Jharkhand.
The SIT said that the lab has informed it that the results can be furnished only by the last week of April as the analysis procedure was intricate and specialised.
The court noted that unless the laboratory report is received, it would not be possible for the SIT to submit a final and conclusive report and therefore, granted further time to the agency to conclude the investigation.
“As it is submitted that the laboratory report would be received by the end of April 2026, let the case be posted on May 18, 2026,” the bench said.
The court had earlier directed the SIT to conclude its probe by March 31. PTI HMP KH
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