Irregularities found in sale of ghee at Sabarimala; High Court orders Vigilance probe

KOCHI: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau will investigate a major irregularity in the sale of ghee that was offered (adiya shishtam ghee) at the Sabarimala Sannidhanam. The fraud allegedly took place between November 17, 2025, and January 2, 2026, during which more than 35,000 ghee packets were sold without proper accounting, resulting in a misappropriation of over Rs 35 lakh. The High Court Devaswom Bench, terming the scale of the irregularity as shocking, ordered a vigilance probe based on reports submitted by the Sabarimala Special Commissioner and Devaswom Vigilance.

The court directed the Vigilance Director to form a team of senior officers to conduct the investigation. The probe will be carried out under the Prevention of Corruption Act and will be under the supervision of the High Court. The bench, comprising Justice V. Raja Vijayaraghavan and Justice K.V. Jayakumar, also ordered that all details related to the investigation should remain confidential. The Vigilance team has been asked to submit a progress report within one month, while the final report can be filed only with the permission of the High Court.

The irregularities were detected in the sale of ghee from counters, including one located in the maintenance building at the Sannidhanam. Between November 17 and December 26, the sale proceeds of 13,679 ghee packets were not remitted to the Devaswom Board. From December 27 to January 2, the amount for another 22,565 packets was also not accounted for. Devaswom Vigilance reported a total misappropriation of Rs 36.33 lakh. Following the discovery of the irregularities, the Devaswom Board had suspended Sunil Kumar Potti, a counter employee involved in the sale.

The contract for packing the ghee packets was awarded to a contractor named Preman from Palakkad. The accounts maintained by the contractor also helped in identifying the fraud. Given that such a large-scale irregularity occurred within just two months, the court observed that it was difficult to even imagine the full extent of the scam. The court also ordered that all vigilance files related to the case be handed over immediately to the special vigilance investigation team.

How the ghee fraud took place
Many devotees who purchased ghee were not issued receipts by counter employee Sunil Kumar Potti. Between November 24 and 30, an amount of Rs 68,200 was not remitted to the Devaswom Board. After the irregularity was detected and senior officials issued directions, the amount was repaid 17 days later.

The court also observed that employees taking over counter duty often failed to record the remaining stock properly. Entries were not made according to rules, leading the court to suspect that the lapses were aimed at misappropriating funds.