Sabarimala gold scam: 36 samples to be sent to NML Jamshedpur, final report by March 31
The court also granted permission to the Investigation Officer to make appropriate requests to mobile service providers to obtain call records.
The court also granted permission to the Investigation Officer to make appropriate requests to mobile service providers to obtain call records.
The court also granted permission to the Investigation Officer to make appropriate requests to mobile service providers to obtain call records.
Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Thursday granted permission to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala gold scam to send 36 samples from the temple to the National Metallurgical Laboratory (NML), Jamshedpur, for advanced scientific testing. The final report will be submitted on March 31.
The High Court, on February 9, permitted the SIT to do advanced scientific analysis to enable comparison between the original clad layers and the present plated surfaces. The SIT reported that preliminary scientific examination indicated that the original gold cladding had been removed and replaced through fresh surface plating of lesser thickness.
However, the report said that an advanced scientific analysis is indispensable to establish the extent of material alteration. It instead proposed conducting X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF) to determine surface elemental composition, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP MS) for ultra-trace impurity and elemental profiling, and Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES) to analyse alloy composition and metallurgical uniformity.
The SIT, on Thursday, submitted that the NML has expressed its willingness to conduct the specified tests at no cost. Additionally, it also claimed that tests will be conducted expeditiously and the results furnished at the earliest.
The SIT said that a total of 36 samples had been collected and produced before the Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge (Vigilance), Kollam, for onward transmission to the NML.
It pointed out that call data records of certain accused have yet to be obtained from mobile service providers, as more than 2 years have elapsed. Hence, the court granted the Investigation Officer permission to make appropriate requests to mobile service providers to obtain call records in connection with the case. It also directed the service providers to furnish the details to the SIT upon receiving such requests.
Taking into account the NML's intimation that the results will be furnished at the earliest and the call data records yet to be obtained, the court directed the final report to be submitted on March 31.