SC dismisses plea of former devaswom board member K P Sankaradas in gold theft case

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Supreme Court has dismissed the plea of former devaswom board member K P Sankaradas in the Sabarimala gold theft case. Sankaradas approached the Supreme Court seeking removal of the remarks raised against him in the high court. The court observed that as a board member, he has a major responsibility in the gold theft. A bench headed by Justice Dipankar Datta dismissed his plea. Sankaradas was a member when Padmakumar, who was arrested in the case, was the board president. The Supreme Court directed him to approach the lower court for anticipatory bail.

Meantime, the high court has granted more time to investigate the Sabarimala gold theft. Six weeks have been granted. The case will be considered again on January 19. The special investigation team will submit an interim report on that day. The high court has expressed satisfaction in the investigation. The court has also given permission to include more officials in the team if required.

The court, which considered the case on December 3, had criticized the slow progress after Padmakumar's arrest. It also raised the question of why the investigation did not go into the big guns. The steps taken by the investigation team in this regard have been included in today's report. Information regarding the arrest of devaswom board member Vijayakumar, Smart Creations CEO Pankaj Bhandari and Bellary jewellery owner Govardhan was also submitted in the court.