Kochi, The Kerala High Court has ordered an independent re-evaluation of the alleged misappropriation of funds by TDB employees in connection with the sale of ‘Adiya Sishtam Ghee’, a holy offering sold to devotees at the Lord Ayyappa shrine in Sabarimala to see whether the corruption case has been resolved or not.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau’s report in the matter, a bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and KV Jayakumar observed that the agency’s findings in relation to the case “appear to downplay” the loss to the Travancore Devaswom Board and sought closure of the matter.
The court said that in its view it was an appropriate case in which the whole matter required reconsideration by a senior officer of “impeccable integrity, proven competence and sufficient experience”.
“Therefore, we are of the view that the material collected during the investigation should be independently re-evaluated by this officer to ascertain whether the facts disclosed constitute offenses punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act.”
I have directed the VACB to immediately assign the entire matter, along with all records and materials collected during the investigation, to a competent, integrity and experienced senior officer.
“The said officer shall independently examine the entire records, re-evaluate the findings contained in this report and submit a comprehensive report before this court within a further period of four weeks, indicating whether the offenses punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita have been committed against any of the accused,” the bench said.
She said that a reading of the VACB report, the statements recorded and the conclusions ultimately arrived at gave the clear impression that the investigation had proceeded on the basis that the matters disclosed constituted mere administrative lapses arising from faulty maintenance of records.
“The thrust of the report appears to downplay the findings of attribution, accountability and subsequent loss to the Travancore Devaswom Board,” the court said.
He added: “We are unable at this stage to easily agree to such an approach.”
The court said that the aim of the investigation was to ascertain the extent of the loss incurred by the Trade and Development Bank as well as the manner in which the loss occurred, the systemic deficiencies that enabled it, and the persons responsible for it.
The bench said that the VACB had itself concluded that the ghee bundles had been entrusted to the counter staff, that they were under a corresponding duty to account for the same, and that there had been dereliction of that duty.
“Having reached such findings, the recommendation to close the matter on the basis that the exact quantity for each employee cannot be determined appears, prima facie, to be inconsistent with the nature of the findings recorded,” it said.
The VACB also held that due to lack of proper maintenance of records, it was not possible to fix individual liability on the employees of the Board who worked as special employees of the structure and counter employees during the relevant period.
It said that all 43 employees, accused in the case, are collectively responsible for the loss of the board of directors, and recommended that strict measures be taken against them to prevent similar incidents from recurring in the future.
Disagreeing with Vigilance’s recommendations, the court said that when the investigation itself reveals significant financial loss, unexplained deficiencies in accounting, attribution of property and failure to account for it, a deeper examination becomes necessary.
“The investigation also reveals that the persons involved are public servants entrusted with fiduciary responsibilities in the management of the temple’s funds and offerings.
“In such circumstances, the matter cannot be viewed solely through the lens of administrative negligence or defective record maintenance,” the council said.
The court ordered an investigation to determine the reasons and circumstances that led to the loss of more than that $17 lakh to the Trade and Development Bank for alleged misappropriation in connection with the sale of ghee in Sunnidhanam during the period from 17 November 2025 to 27 December 2025.
The court said that the materials before it also indicated that the violations in question were not limited to the aforementioned period alone, but were alleged to have existed even before it and continued after that as well.
The court had initiated the petition suo motu following a report issued by the Chief Vigilance and Security Officer of the TDB indicating that the proceeds from the sale of 16,628 packets of ghee sold at the shrine had not been transferred to the Devaswom account.
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