The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday shifted the Vigilance Court to Kollam to seek case records, including the FIR, in the Sabarimala gold embezzlement case.
The petition stated that the alleged forgery of documents, misappropriation of temple gold and suspected money laundering linked to the Sabarimala temple constitute offenses under Section 467 of the Indian Penal Code, a scheduled offense under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
It added that civil servants are also involved in the case, which is being investigated by Kriminálka. The individuals were charged under Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1998, the agency said.
The agency further said that it is prima facie satisfied that the proceeds of crime are owned by (main accused) Unnikrishnan Potty and others have committed the scheduled offence. “The Directorate of Law Enforcement is required to collect materials to make sure that money laundering is involved.” He also said in his lawsuit that the documents will remain confidential and will not be used for any other purpose.
The court ordered the public prosecutor to file any objections and adjourned the matter for further hearing on December 10.
The ED approached the Vigilance court after the trial court, Ranni, rejected its request for documents in a particular case. The agency challenged the order in the Kerala High Court, after which the case was transferred to the Vigilance Court.
Published – 05 Dec 2025 20:51 IST
