The Kerala High Court, while hearing a suo motu plea related to the alleged misappropriation of funds at the Sabarimala Sannidhanam ghee counter, on Wednesday expressed shock at the probe reports highlighting “the existence of several anomalies indicative of deep-rooted systemic deficiencies in the Travancore Devaswom Board”.
The court emphasized that the council must urgently address these shortcomings. She noted with concern the callous and careless manner in which records are kept and revenue from the sale of sacred gifts is accounted for. Even a modest store would be expected to maintain much stricter accounting discipline to ensure proper reconciliation of income and inventory. “The situation before the court is totally unacceptable,” observed Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice KV Jayakumar.
Alarmingly, there are no formal procedures or verified records detailing the deployment of staff at each counter. Instead, the contributions are merely listed and displayed in the office of the special officer of the temple. The investigation further revealed that employees who had only worked at the board for one week were tasked with handling sensitive tasks involving significant cash and inventory.
The process of issuing packaged ghee for sale was described as equally troubling. The temple special officer records the quantity in a notebook, colloquially known as the ‘Kutti Book’, before releasing the packets to the counters. Separate notebooks are kept for each counter which are kept in the temple office and record the number of packets issued along with signatures of the counter staff.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the matter produced one such school notebook of around 200 pages relating to the Maramathu-II counter, covering the period from November 17 to December 30. However, only about 20 pages were used. The notebook contained multiple corrections, rewrites, and line insertions. The court pointed out that the board and its officers are expected to exercise much greater oversight over matters that generate several crores of rupees a day.
After considering the facts and circumstances presented – particularly the serious and systemic issues affecting the sales and accounting of Adiya Sishtam Ghee, Vibhoothi and Kumkum – the court observed that it was imperative that the Board put in place a comprehensive, transparent and accountable framework. This framework must strictly adhere to established accounting and auditing procedures to ensure that the Board’s legitimate income is protected and not lost through leakage, theft or mismanagement.
The court further directed the board to ensure that all income generated from the sale of prasadam items – including but not limited to Appam, Adiya Sishtam Ghee, Aravana, Vibhoothi, Kumkum and other sacred offerings – is transferred under a fully accountable and transparent financial and administrative framework.
The SIT was set up by the Director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau on the direction of the Supreme Court and probed the processes by which Adiya Sishtam Ghee is procured, stored, packaged and sold in Sabarimala.
Published – 18 Feb 2026 22:35 IST