Tamil Nadu native solicits Rs 6.14 lakh for Sabarimala Panchaloha idol: Four months to investigate fake fundraising

KOCHI: The High Court has ordered that the investigation into the case of Dr. EK Sahadevan, a hospital owner from Erode, Tamil Nadu, collecting money on the pretext of installing a Panchaloha idol of Swami Ayyappan in Sabarimala, be completed within four months. The Devaswom bench comprising Justices V Raja Vijayaraghavan and KV Jayakumar, directed the Pampa police to deposit the collected amount in the magistrate court. The suo motu petition was disposed of.

The Sabarimala Chief Police Coordinator, in his report submitted to the court, stated that Rs 6,14,007 had been deposited in an account in the name of Rotary Freedom India Trust. Out of this, Rs 6 lakh was from an account in the name of K Srinivasan. There were other donations ranging from Rs 1000 to Rs 5001. The Travancore Devaswom Board had given permission to install the Panchaloha idol on July 31 as per a letter from Dr. Sahadevan, chairman of Lotus Multi-Speciality Hospital in Erode. Later, Sahadevan issued a misleading notice stating that permission had been given by the Kerala government. A QR code for donations was also attached to it. It was informed that it would be a two-foot-tall 150 kg Panchaloha idol. The High Court intervened on the basis of the report given by the Sabarimala Special Commissioner in this regard.

The proceedings in the petition were closed because the board had withdrawn the permission, and Dr. Sahadevan had filed an affidavit in the court stating that he had withdrawn from the project. The High Court also ordered that the concerned Magistrate Court should take legal action regarding the final report of the police and the amount to be seized. It was the Devaswom Board that filed a complaint with the Pampa police as per the court's instructions.