Kerala High Court denies bail to 3 in Sabarimala gold theft case

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday denied bail to three accused in connection with their arrest in the Sabarimala gold theft case [Roddam Pandurangaiah Naga Govardhan v State of Kerala and connected cases]..Justice A Badharudeen pronounced the order. Bail was denied to former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) President and senior CPI(M) leader A Padmakumar, former TDB administrative officer B Murari Babu and Karnataka-based jeweller Roddam Pandurangaiah Naga Govardhan..The matter concerns criminal cases registered in connection with the alleged misappropriation of gold from the Dwarapalaka idols and the gold clad door frames of the Sreekovil at the Sabarimala temple.The gold coverings on these temple structures were found to be nearly 4 kilograms lighter after the items were returned to the temple following repair works.Padmakumar, who was the President of the TDB in 2019 when the alleged theft occurred, was arrested by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the theft case, after being questioned at a confidential location in Thiruvananthapuram.The police have claimed that he played a direct role in facilitating the misappropriation of gold by conspiring with the prime accused in the case, Unnikrishnan Potti.It is alleged that Padmakumar classified gold-clad copper sheets as mere 'copper sheets' in the agenda notice of a TDB meeting held in March 2019, enabling Potti to receive the temple items and misappropriate the gold.Unnikrishnan Potti is the prime accused in the case. Potti had sponsored the repair work, following which the gold allegedly went missing. The police allege that irregularities committed by TDB officials helped Potti gain access to the gold under the pretext of sponsoring repair works. .Senior Advocate P Vijayabhanu appeared for Padmakumar and Govardhan in their bail pleas. He had argued that the allegation against Padmakumar was only in relation to the violation of the Devaswom Manual, which could not be considered a crime.He added that Govardhan (the jeweller) had no role in the alleged misappropriation except that he paid for the restoration of the temple items and made donations several times to the Temple..The Court was also told that the SIT investigating the case had forcibly taken 474.97 grams of 24-karat imported gold from Govardhan's shop and residence during a raid conducted on October 24, 2025.The accused's counsel further argued that both Padmakumar and Govardhan were arrested despite their cooperation with the investigation and were entitled to bail.Meanwhile, Advocate S Rajeev, appearing for former TDB administrative officer Murari Babu submitted that his client had been in custody for over 80 days and that his custodial interrogation was no longer required.The State had opposed the bail pleas of all three accused..Additional Director General of Prosecution Gracious Kuriakose along with public prosecutor CK Suresh appeared for the State.Advocates Thomas J Anakkalunkal, Anupa Anna Jose Kandoth, Jayaraman S, Dhanya Synny and Ann Milka George also appeared for the Govardhan.Advocates Sruthy N Bhat, PM Rafiq, M Revikrishnan, Ajeesh K Sasi, Sruthy KK, K Aravind Menon, Aaron Zacharias Benny, Nanditha S and Govind G Nair also represented Padmakumar.Advocates V Vinay, MS Aneer, Sarath KP, Anilkumar CR, KS Kiran Krishnan, Azad Sunil, Akash Cherian Thomas, TP Aravind, Akshara S, Maheshwar Padickal, Dipa V also appeared for Murari Babu..[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.