Sabarimala head priest appointment: High Court dismisses plea as no reason to interfere

KOCHI: The High Court has dismissed the plea to cancel the appointment of Sabarimala head priest. The High Court clarified that there is no need to interfere in the appointment. The High Court had indicated that there was unnecessary presence of persons in thehead priest elections. However, the Devaswom Board informed the High Court that the election was conducted in the presence of observers.

Meanwhile, the division bench comprising Justice Anil K Narendran, Justice G Girish and others had already examined the video evidence of the draw of lots. Although the court verbally opined that some of the lots, including the lot drawn by the child, were left open and this may have happened when the pot was shaken, it was informed that the footage would be re-examined. The Devaswom Board had presented footage of the draw.

The petition was filed by Thiruvananthapuram native Madhusudhanan Namboothiri based on the TV footage. 17 candidates identified through interview participated in the head priest selection. The draw was held on the 18th of last month in front of the shrine.