On October 6, Kerala’s Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan refused to see the two Pinarayi Vijayan ministries of 2016 and 2021 as a continuity.

He decoupled his tenure as Devaswom minister from the one helmed by Kadakampally Surendran under the first Pinarayi ministry and claimed that under him, unlike in 2019 when Kadakampally was minister, any work on the Lord's possessions was done adhering to the highest standards of transparency as prescribed by the High Court.

This self-serving claim of the minister was discredited by the HC order on October 6. Vasavan had claimed that even the HC had found no fault in the way the gold plates were handed over for refurbishment in 2025.

The minister even listed the steps taken by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) before handing over the gold-covered copper plates to the priest-turned-sponsor Unnikrishnan Potty this year. One, the decision to refurbish the gold plating was done on the basis of a letter from the 'thanthri'. Two, the removal of the gold foil from the 'Dwarapalakas' was captured on camera.

Three, it was done in the presence of the blacksmith, priests, officers, security personnel and Devaswom Vigilance. Four, the gold plates were accompanied by uniformed personnel when they were transported outside the state and also when they were returned.

Vasavan asserted that whenever the TDB did any activity in Sabarimala, particularly the handling of the temple's gold or silver, it was done only after securing the permission of the HC.

As if no amount of repetition would be enough, he once again differentiated between his and Kadakampally’s tenure. "The court had raised suspicion only about the 2019 incident. After that, nothing unusual had happened," Vasavan said.

But the HC order on October 6 rebuffed  Vasavan's 'nothing unusual under my watch' claim. The court, on the basis of the Sabarimala Special Commissioner report submitted before it, said that the gold-cladded copper coverings of the 'dwarapalaka' idols on either side of the sanctum sanctorum were removed "without prior intimation to the special commissioner."

This was just a recap of what the court had already said. In its September 10 order, the court had termed as "unwarranted and irregular exercise of authority" the TDB's move to detach the gold-cladded copper coverings without informing the special commissioner and seeking the court's sanction. That such a process should be followed was laid down in a 2023 order of the HC.

"Such a measure is designed to guarantee that temple property is duly protected and not subjected to waste, misuse, or loss," the HC said in the October 6 order.

Minister Vasavan issued a clean chit for himself though the court had nearly a month ago, on September 10, directed the Devaswom commissioner, the executive officer, and the Thiruvabharanam commissioner to show cause why proceedings should not be initiated against them for "wilful violation of the binding directions of this court".

The court also ordered the immediate halt of the gold-plating works at Smart Creations, the Chennai firm to which 'sponsor' Unnikrishnan Potty transported the gold. The court also ordered the return of 'Dwarapalakas' to the Sannidhanam. The transparent steps the minister listed were taken after the HC called the TDB's bluff.

The court, while examining the records, realised that moves as unholy and sinister as in 2019 worked behind the transportation of 'Dwarapalaka' gold-claddings to Chennai this year, too.

It were three letters of the Thiruvabharanam commissioner that stoked suspicions of a foul deal. On July 30 this year, the Thiruvabharanam commissioner wrote to the executive officer that the copper plates covering the 'Dwarapalakas' were already gold-coated and that Smart Creations lacked the technical expertise to remove the existing coating.

The commissioner further said that the work could be executed only by adopting traditional methods and, based on the estimate prepared by the Devaswom smith, said approximately 303gm gold would be required.

But eight days later, on August 8, the commissioner swallowed his words. He sent another official communication recommending that the gold-cladded components be transported to Smart Creations for electroplating.

There was a third letter by the commissioner, written a fortnight later on August 21. In this there is mention of TDB president P S Prasanth's interest in handing over the gold-plating work to Unnikrishnan Potty.

The court found it alarming that top officers of the TDB had conveniently disregarded the Travancore Devaswom Board Sub Group Manual that unequivocally mandates that such repair works should be carried out within the Sannidhanam itself. Like in 1998, when Vijay Mallya's United Breweries Group covered the sanctum sanctorum and the 'Dwarapalakas' in gold.

It were these disclosures, which pointed to a probable attempt to loot the temple gold this year, that motivated the court to seize all relevant files and records related to the gold-plating of the 'Dwarapalakas' and the components of the sanctum sanctorum, right from the time of the original cladding in 1998.

In short, the deception of the Devaswom under Vasavan pushed the court to blow the lid off a major gold heist in Sabarimala.