3 min readThiruvanananthapuramUpdated: Jun 30, 2026 01:19 AM IST
The Kerala High Court on Monday directed the Special Investigation Team probing the alleged theft of gold from Sabarimala temple to register a criminal case against two Left Democratic Front leaders and senior executives who were at the helm of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which manages the temple, from 2023 to 2025.
The latest involves CPI(M) leader and former TDB president P S Prasanth and former TDB member and CPI leader A Ajikumar.
Last year, the SIT had registered two other cases in which CPI(M) leader and former legislator A Padmakumar was arrested. The cases pertained to the theft that allegedly took place in 2019 during the period of the first Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government in the state. The new case involves allegations regarding further transportation of the idols to Chennai in 2023, during the LDF government’s second consecutive term.
The cases were registered after the High Court found that the Dwarapalaka idols at the temple, which were originally gold-clad in 1998, were transported in 2019 to a firm in Chennai at the behest of Unnikrishnan Potty, allegedly under the guise of funding and overseeing a fresh gold-plating. However, it was found that when returned, the idols were allegedly missing some of the gold that was already on them.
2023 gold-plating
The court said, “In order to conceal the pilferage and misappropriation of the gold in 2019, the sponsor (Potty), the TDB leadership, and others at the temple entered into a criminal conspiracy to once again transport the Dwarapalakas to Chennai under the guise of carrying out fresh gold plating.”
In the latest case, apart from the LDF leaders, Unnikrishnan Potty is among the other accused. The charges against them include criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and forgery.
The Bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan and K V Jayakumar directed registration of the case when the SIT submitted its latest probe report.
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Referring to the alleged conspiracy behind the decision to take the items again for gold plating in 2023, when P S Prasanth was TDB president, the court said, “This was done despite being aware that such action was contrary to the provisions of the Devaswom Manual as well as the court directions, and despite knowing that the same was intended to conceal the earlier acts of misappropriation and would result in further loss to the Devaswom.”
The court said Unnikrishnan Potty allegedly influenced Prashanth to support the 2023 plan.
The SIT informed the court about the roles of others, too, including other TDB members and a jeweller, in the latest case. The court directed the SIT to file an additional report if required.
