Sabarimala gold theft: Kerala High Court quizzes Thantri Sabha members for seeking CBI probe

The Kerala High Court on Monday questioned the motive behind a petition filed by certain persons associated with the Akhila Thantri Pracharak Sabha for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Sabarimala gold misappropriation case [MS Sreerajkrishnan Potti & anr v Union of India & ors].

A Division Bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice KV Jayakumar was hearing the plea filed by MS Sreerajkrishnan Potti, and N Vishnu Namboothiri, who are the Chairman and a member of the Sabha, respectively.

The petitioners have sought the transfer of the Sabarimala gold theft investigation from a Special Investigation Team (SIT) currently conducting the probe to the CBI. The petitioners claim that the ongoing SIT investigation is ineffective and politically influenced.

The Court, however, orally stated that the petition appeared to be aimed at protecting the accused.

Justice Vijayaraghavan expressed disappointment that such petitions were being filed even though the High Court itself has been monitoring the case closely.

"Without even understanding what is transpiring, you have raised certain allegations, trying to protect the accused from the crimes. There is no reason why you should file a writ petition at this particular point of time after we have passed 10 orders," the judge said.

The Court went on to observe that the present petition appeared to be an attempt to weaken the SIT investigation and protect the accused persons.

"You are saying that all these persons who are arrayed as accused are all innocent persons. You are saying the Dwarapalakas were not gold-cladded, it was gold-plated," the Bench pointed out.

The Court, however, has agreed to hear the matter further and has posted the plea along with connected cases on February 4, 2026.

The petition has been filed in connection with the misappropriation of gold from the Dwarapalaka idols and the door frames of the Sreekovil at the Sabarimala temple.

The petitioners are practising Thantris and devotees of Lord Ayyappa. Their plea recounts that following a report submitted by the Special Commissioner for Sabarimala in September 2025 regarding the unauthorised removal of gold coverings, the High Court had constituted an SIT to probe the matter.

Two criminal cases were registered by the crime branch. However, even after nearly four months of investigation, the SIT has failed to recover the allegedly stolen gold or identify the real culprits, the plea states.

A major grievance raised by the petitioners is the arrest of Sabarimala Thantri, Rajeev Kantararu, who has also been arrayed as an accused.

The petitioners allege that the investigating agency was deliberately making an attempt to make the Sabarimala Thantri a scapegoat, while officials of the Travancore Devaswom Board, who had authorised and supervised the removal of the gold from the temple, were being shielded.

According to them, official records showed that the TDB itself had issued orders in March 2019 permitting the removal of items from the temple for repair and restoration and entrusted them to the first accused, Unnikrishnan Potti.

A mahazar prepared at the time was signed by several temple Board officials along with the Thantri.

Despite this, the SIT arrested the Thantri as an accused, alleging that he allowed the removal of the materials without obtaining 'Anunja' (ritual permission) from the deity. However, the petitioners claimed that the Thantri's role was limited to granting ritual sanction and he had no administrative control over the temple property.

The petitioners further alleged that the SIT is acting under political pressure, as the TDB and its senior officials have affiliations to the ruling party [Communist Party in India (Marxist)].

The plea added that the stolen gold may have been distributed across different States and even abroad, all which warrant an investigation by a central agency like the CBI.

The petition has been filed through Advocates S Krishnamoorthy S, Sneha Rose, PS Aruna and D Sreekumar.