In its October 6 order on the gold theft in Sabarimala, the Kerala High Court had found two actions of Devaswom officials "astonishing".

One, recording the gold-clad plates of 'dwarapalakas' as copper plates before handing it over to middleman Unnikrishnan Potty in July 2019.

Two, when the 14 gold-claddings were returned to Sannidhanam two months later in September and re-installed, its weight was not recorded. As it turned out, there was a weight loss of over 4 kg.

It were these two actions that primarily prompted the High Court on October 6 to say that the gold-clad plates that were brought back to Sannidhanam were probably fakes, and that the originals were sold at extortionate rates to some rich devotee.

There was another "deeply disturbing revelation". Potty was in possession of "balance gold" after the gold-plating and had in an email sought the Board's permission to use it for a "girl's marriage". The volume of balance gold in Potty's possession was revealed in the subsequent October 10 order of the HC.

In this, more facts were revealed. One, the gold-clad copper covering of the 'sreekovil' doors and "side frames" were also classified as just 'copper plates' and handed over to Unnikrishnan Potty in March and May of 2019, even before the gold-claddings of 'dwarapalakas' were carted away to Chennai.

Two, Potty was handed over 474.9 grams of gold after gold-plating of the doors, side frames and 'dwarapalakas'; there is no record to show that the residual gold was returned to Travancore Devaswom Board. The second order (October 10), therefore, expanded the scope of the probe to include the gold theft from the side frames and doors of the 'sreekovil', in addition to those from the 'dwarapalakas'.

The latest HC order on October 21 unveils additional facts. One: After the items in Sannidhanam were taken to Chennai in 2019 for gold-plating and returned, Potty was secretly allowed to take away the 'peedams' (pedestals on which 'dwarapalakas' stood) to Chennai for gold-plating as the glow of the fresh plating diminished quickly. After the second gold-plating, these 'peedams' were returned only in 2021.

This meant that the gold plating supervised by Potty was of inferior quality and even then devaswom officials called up Potty and asked him to redo the work. This second shift to Chennai was not recorded in the Thiruvabharanam register.

In less than three years, by 2024, the nickel base of these 'peedams', which were supposedly covered in gold twice and which were promised a warranty of 40 years, had started to show. So in 2025, without resorting to an open bid, devaswom officials asked the very middleman who consistently did shoddy work to once again take up the gold-plating work.

Two, in this swift damage to the gold-covering and the surreptitious move to sign up Potty again and again, the HC suspects a grand official conspiracy. "This likely motivated the TDB officials to secretly re-entrust the idols to Mr Unnikrishnan Potty in 2025, in an apparent attempt to conceal the pilferage of 2019," it says in the October 21 order.

In 2025, contrary to what devaswom minister V N Vasavan claims, the work was initially (on September 3, 2025) handed over to Potty without securing the consent of the Sabarimala Special Commissioner as has been mandated by the HC in 2023.

The latest HC order, like its October 6 one, mentions the "directions" from the current TDB president, P S Prasanth, to the Thiruvabharanam commissioner to speed up the delivery of the Lord's properties to Potty. Prasanth, on his part, said that he had not issued any such "official" directions.

Three, the HC for the first time revealed that the thanthri had allowed the 'dwarapalakas' and 'peedams' to be taken out of Sannidhanam. The thanthri family had all along taken the stand that the thanthri had only said that gold-plating was required and not how and where it should be done.

The HC in all its Sabarimala-related orders have expressed its outrage at the callous disregard of the Devaswom manual by those in authority. It has repeatedly said that the Travancore Devaswom Board Sub-Group Manual categorically stipulated that repair works of such nature should be carried out within the Sannidhanam itself.

"We have also come across a letter issued by Thazhaman Kandararu Mahesh Mohanaru, the Thantri, addressed to the Thiruvabharanam Commissioner, wherein he stated that the Dwarapalakas and Peedams could be removed from the Sannidhanam for repair works, while specifically directing that the repair of the door, lintel, Kamanam, and Lakshmi Roopam must be undertaken within the Sannidhanam itself," the HC's October 21 order says.

These three factors have led the HC to issue this diktat: "We direct the Special Investigation Team (SIT) not to confine its inquiry to the Dwarapalakas and side frames alone. The investigation shall extend to uncovering the larger conspiracy, identifying the officials of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) who may have colluded to conceal the misappropriation of gold from the gold-cladded plates, and determining whether the entrustment of the Dwarapalakas in the year 2025 formed part of a broader scheme to suppress the pilferage that occurred in 2019."