'Gold won't evaporate like petrol'; Four kg of gold missing after maintenance work in 2019

KOCHI: The High Court ordered a vigilance investigation into the dubious repair works of the Sabarimala Dwarapalaka idols' gold plating after a shortage of four kg was reported after the repair works.

While being removed to be taken for repair works, the gold plating was weighed as 42.800 kg. This was later reduced to 38.653 kg. The Devaswom bench comprising Justice V. Raja Vijayaraghavan and Justice K.V. Jayakumar said that it was surprising that the shortage was not recorded in the Mahazar. The court also made a sardonic remark that the gold will not evaporate like petrol.

The irregularities were identified by examining the documents submitted by the Travancore Devaswom Board and the Mahazar seized by the Vigilance from the Thiruvabharanam Commissioner's Office in Aranmula. The registry was also directed to hand over these documents to Vigilance.

Unnikrishnan Potty, a party to the case, took the initiative to take the gold ornaments to Smart Creations in Chennai in 2019.

👉 The idol was removed on July 19, 2019. The weight in Mahazar was 25.400 kg. The gold plating was written as copper layers in the document. It was taken without an escort. The next day, the idols were moved. The weight was 17.400 kg

👉It was delivered to Smart Creations on August 29. The recorded weight was 38.258 kg. The institution's records indicate that after gold plating, the weight increased to 38.653 kg. The increase was only 394 grams.

Meanwhile, the apex court allowed the government to conduct the Global Ayyappa Sangamam scheduled on September 20th.