Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 11 (IANS) As the Kerala High Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the Sabarimala gold theft case, has widened its lens to include the controversial Global Ayyappa Meet held at Pampa last year, it has left a few in the Pinarayi Vijayan government gasping for breath.
In its submission linked to the Sabarimala gold misappropriation case, the SIT has made specific references to the Global Ayyappa Meet conducted during the tenure of P.S. Prasanth as Travancore Devaswom Board president.
Significantly, the report notes that there is no record in the minutes of the Devaswom Board meeting approving the decision to organise the event.
It also flags ambiguities in fund utilisation related to the meet.
Against this backdrop, an audit report detailing a financial loss of Rs 3.4 crore to the Devaswom Board from the event is slated to be placed before the High Court.
The court had earlier directed that not even a single rupee be sourced from either the government or the Devaswom Board for the conduct of the meet, with organisers indicating that expenses would be met entirely through sponsorship.
It was the Devaswom Minister V.N.Vasavan who had publicly estimated the cost at around Rs 8 crore, it remains unclear whether the full amount was mobilised through sponsorship, even though he categorically said no public funds would be taken.
The audit findings indicate that Rs 3.4 crore was drawn from the Board’s surplus funds, raising fresh legal and administrative questions.
The Devaswom Board has convened a meeting in the wake of the SIT’s observations.
In a parallel development, the Vigilance Department is set to formally request the return of files seized by the SIT from the Devaswom headquarters in connection with the Sabarimala flagstaff reconstruction case.
Key documents remain in SIT custody, and officials say detailed scrutiny is required before recording further statements.
Earlier findings had indicated procedural violations in the acceptance of gold for the flagstaff reconstruction, including failure to properly document donor details adding another layer to the expanding probe surrounding Sabarimala related financial management.
–IANS
sg/svn