Thiruvananthapuram: The Devaswom Vigilance has submitted an explosive supplementary report to the Kerala High Court, alleging that the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) itself made the decision that facilitated the Sabarimala gold plating scam. The report, backed by documents, claims the Board, acting on a recommendation from then-Devaswom Commissioner N. Vasu, approved handing over gold-plated sheets from the sanctum sanctorum’s doorframe to the main accused, Unnikrishnan Potti, by deliberately mislabeling them as simple “copper sheets.”
The investigation uncovered a critical change in official records. An initial letter from the Executive Officer on February 16, 2019, correctly identified the items as “gold-plated copper sheets.” However, when N. Vasu (who later became TDB President) forwarded the recommendation to the Board on February 26, the term “gold-plated” was omitted, referring to them only as “copper sheets.” The Board approved this misleading recommendation on March 19, and based on this decision, the Devaswom Secretary issued the order that allowed the valuable gold-plated sheets to be moved.
The vigilance report squarely blames the “irresponsible actions” of the Board and its officials for the loss of gold, concluding that they committed gross negligence. In his defense, N. Vasu stated that he had merely signed a note prepared and certified by three other officials. The findings directly contradict recent assertions by the Chief Minister and other ministers who had claimed there was no lapse on the part of the Board.
The investigation also found the Board’s actions suspicious on other fronts. According to the minutes, the TDB made a conscious decision to exclude the High Court-appointed Special Commissioner and the Devaswom Vigilance SP from the list of mandatory witnesses during the removal and reinstallation of the gold plates in 2019. The report notes that excluding these two officials, who are specifically tasked with reporting irregularities, is highly questionable.
Furthermore, while the Board’s resolution mandated weighing the plates upon removal, it crucially failed to include instructions to weigh them upon their return, a loophole that the report says facilitated the scam.
