Kochi, The Kerala High Court on Thursday sought clarification from the Travancore Devaswom Board on how the expenses of the World Ayyappa Conclave exceeded sponsorship amounts and under what circumstances additional financial commitments were undertaken.
A bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan and KV Jayakumar also directed the audit firm to submit a statement detailing the defects, deficiencies and lapses observed by it during the audits of TDB accounts conducted over the years.
The court sought an explanation from the Trade and Development Bank after seeing the full audited records relating to the event and on the basis of the previous statement by the Trade and Development Bank that the event expenses would be met exclusively from sponsorship amounts.
“As previously noted, the expenses incurred for the meeting appear to be much higher than the amounts received by sponsorship.
“It is therefore incumbent upon the Travancore Devaswom Board to explain before this Court the apparent inconsistency in its conduct, particularly in view of the statement in the counter affidavit that the expenses of the event would be met exclusively through sponsorship.”
It also said that if expenses exceed the care received, the council must put before the court the circumstances under which those additional financial obligations were undertaken.
The authority also said audited records indicate that TDB’s financial discipline “leaves much to be desired.”
“Currently available records indicate that large sums of money have been committed and disbursed without vouchers and receipts and without adequate explanation as to the financial approvals obtained.
“There is serious laxity in recording the basis on which sanctions were imposed, and the safeguards adopted to ensure proper utilization of funds. Such issues are of importance in the context of an institution entrusted with managing temple funds and contributions made by devotees,” the court said.
It further said that the size of the amounts involved, the multiple sources from which the funds were mobilized, and the manner in which the advances appeared to have been disbursed without a transparent accounting framework, “prima facie indicate a worrying lack of financial prudence and internal financial oversight.”
The audited records were presented to the court based on its directives in this regard on March 2.
The court, on March 2, had asked independent auditor Vijayan Associates as a respondent in the matter and directed him to submit all primary and foundational records that form the basis of the audit of the event’s expenses.
The auditor placed the records before the court on Thursday.
The court found that Vijayan Associates had been reviewing the board’s records for the past decade.
Therefore, I directed the Audit Department to submit a statement containing details of the anomalies, deficiencies and lapses that it observed during the audits conducted over the years.
“The auditor shall also point out such procedural or financial safeguards as may be necessary, in his opinion, to improve financial management and accountability in the performance of the board so that appropriate directions can be issued,” the court said and listed the matter for further hearing on April 1.
The directions were issued on a suo motu petition filed by the court based on the audit report issued by the conclave.
The court had called for an audit report to be submitted while rejecting the petitions challenging the holding of the secret meeting in September last year.
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