The Kerala High Court on Tuesday directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to thoroughly investigate the aspect of criminal conspiracy in Sabarimala gold theft after going through the preliminary investigation report submitted by the team. The court noted that serious damage had been noticed on the Dwarapalakas, with visible marks at their lower portions as early as 2024. 

The Devaswom Commissioner and the Devaswom Smith inspected the idols and found that the gold plating had disappeared in several areas, exposing the underlying nickel coating. They further noted that portions of the Thangu Peedams (pedestals) had also lost their plating. The Devaswom Smith opined that fresh gold plating, along with extra lacquer coating, was required. 

The HC, based on the findings, observed that instead of initiating a transparent tender or expert consultation, and without perusing the earlier records showing the retention of gold and the warranty, the officials once again approached Unnikrishnan Potty, who agreed to carry out the work in 2025.

Expressing serious doubts whether the Dwarapalakas returned were the same as those entrusted in 2019, the court said that every Devaswom official, including those in the highest hierarchy, bears responsibility for failing to weigh the idols at the time of refixation and to record the same in the mahzar.

After analysing the sequence of events between 2019 and 2025, the HC noted that serious damage and removal of gold plating were recorded by the Devaswom Commissioner and Devaswom Smith on the articles, which carried a forty-year warranty. "This likely motivated the TDB officials to secretly re-entrust the idols to Unnikrishnan Potty in 2025, in an apparent attempt to conceal the pilferage of 2019, the court said in the interim order. 

The HC issued a direction to the SIT not to confine its inquiry to the Dwarapalakas and side frames alone and to uncover the larger conspiracy and identify the officials of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) who may have colluded to conceal the misappropriation of gold from the

gold-cladded plates. SIT was also asked to determine whether the entrustment of the Dwarapalakas in the year 2025 formed part of a broader scheme to suppress the pilferage that occurred in 2019. 

The higher officials of the Board cannot absolve themselves of responsibility or shift the blame onto subordinate officers, for each of them

bore a collective duty to ensure that the sacred valuables of the deity were neither pilfered nor wasted, according to the order. The court called Unnikrishnan Potty, the first accused in the case, a person with dubious antecedents and as per the probe so far, only a perfunctory mahazar was prepared and that none of the relevant particulars were entered in the registers. 

The Devaswom officials, despite being fully aware of the glaring irregularities and the possibility that the gold plates had been substituted, wilfully chose to remain silent, thereby concealing the act of misconduct on the part of both the officials and the sponsor, the order noted. The SIT was also directed to seize the minutes books of the TDB. The case has been posted for hearing on November 5, and the officers of the SIT will have to be present at the court.