The Kerala High Court has called for expeditious action in the Sabarimala gold theft investigation, directing the concerned authorities to speed up the process of granting prosecution sanction against officials accused in the alleged misappropriation of gold from the temple’s sanctum sanctorum doorframes.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V. and Justice K.V. Jayakumar issued the direction on November 10 while monitoring the investigation in a suo motu case concerning the alleged loss of gold from the gold-plated Dwarapalaka idols and the doorframes of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) at Sabarimala.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by IPS officer Sasidharan, informed the Court that applications seeking prosecution sanction had been forwarded to the Secretary of the Revenue (Devaswom) Department and the Travancore Devaswom Board through the Additional Director General of Police (Crimes). The investigating officer submitted that the final report in the doorframes case would be filed before the jurisdictional court after the requisite sanctions were obtained.
Taking note of the submissions, the Bench stressed the need to avoid further delay in the commencement of trial proceedings, observing, “Let the matter be expedited so that the trial proceedings can commence without further delay.”
With regard to the separate investigation into the alleged misappropriation of gold from the Dwarapalaka idols, the SIT informed the Court that the probe had entered its final stage. The investigating officer assured the Bench that the investigation would be concluded shortly, following which requests for the necessary prosecution sanctions would be submitted to the competent authorities.
The High Court has posted the suo motu proceedings for further consideration on December 2.
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