NEW DELHI: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday (Jan 21) denied bail to three accused, including former president of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) A Padmakumar, in the Sabarimala temple gold loot case.
A single bench of Justice A Badharudeen on Wednesday pronounced the order, denying bail to former TDB administrative officer B Murari Babu, and Karnataka-based jeweller Roddam Pandurangaiah Naga Govardhan apart from the former TDB president and senior CPM leader, accused of misappropriating gold from the Dwarapalaka idols and door frames of the Sreekovil of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple.
Padmakumar’s tenure as the president of the TDB between 2017 and 2019. He is arraigned as the eighth accused in the case being investigated by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Kerala High Court.
The prosecution’s allegation is that he conspired with the other accused in the misappropriation of the gold from the doorframes of the Sabarimala temple while holding the post.
The SIT has claimed that he also conspired with the prime accused in the case, Unnikrishnan Potty.
He was arrested on Nov 20 and has been in custody since then. After the Special Judge dismissed his bail plea, he had approached the high court.
The specific allegation against Murari Babu is that he, while working as Administrative Officer, mischaracterised the gold cladded idols and pillars as copper plates and filed a recommendation to the thantri for gold plating them, an act that led to the removal and handing over of these to the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potty.
He was arrested on Oct 23 and has been in judicial custody since then. His bail applications were dismissed by the high court earlier too.
In his bail plea, Govardhan stated that he had no role in the misappropriation and that in June 2019, he had donated 184 grams of gold for the purpose of plating gold on the door frames of the temple.
He was arrested on Dec 19 and has been in custody since then. He directly moved the High Court seeking bail in both the cases. - The Statesman/ANN
