Sabarimala gold theft: Kerala HC denies bail to former TDB officials Murari Babu, N Vasu, K S Baiju

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed the bail applications filed by former Travancore Devaswom Board officials Murari Babu, N Vasu and K S Baiju in cases relating to the alleged misappropriation of gold from the Sabarimala temple. Justice A Badharudeen passed the order on Friday.

Murari Babu, a former administrative officer of the Travancore Devaswom Board, was suspended from his post as deputy devaswom commissioner after the Special Investigation Team registered the cases. He is accused in both cases being probed by the Crime Branch concerning the theft of gold from the dwarapalaka idols and the panels of the Sreekovil at Sabarimala. He was arrested on October 23 and has been in judicial custody since then. His bail plea was earlier dismissed by the Court of Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, Kollam.

K S Baiju, a former Thiruvabharanam commissioner of the Travancore Devaswom Board, is also accused in the cases relating to the misappropriation of gold from the dwarapalaka idols and the sideframes of the Sabarimala temple. The investigation is being carried out by a Special Investigation Team constituted by a division bench of the High Court.

N Vasu, who served two terms as devaswom commissioner and later as president of the board during 2019–2021, is the third accused in the case relating to the alleged misappropriation of gold from the temple’s doorframes. He was arrested on November 11, and his bail plea was subsequently dismissed by the Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge.

All three accused face charges under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant), 466 (forgery of record of court or public register) and 467 (forgery of valuable security), read with Section 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. They are also charged under Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.
(With LiveLaw inputs.)