Kerala High Court Flags Alleged Misappropriation Of Funds By Devaswom Board Officers In Relation To Sabarimala's Ashtabhishekam

The Kerala High Court on Monday (May 18) flagged the alleged misappropriation of funds by the Administrative Officers of the Travancore Devaswom Board for the last 10 years or so in relation to procurement of items required for 'Ashtabhishekam' in Sabarimala temple.

Ashtabhishekam refers to a sacred ritual in which the deity's idol is bathed with eight auspicious substances.

The Division Bench of Justice Raja Vijaraghavan V. and Justice K.V. Jayakumar was considering a suo motu petition initiated based on a report by the Sabarimala Special Commissioner alleging misappropriation of funds by the Administrative Officers of the TDB for the past 10 years or so.

While hearing the case, the Court noted that most of the officials of the TDB have been stationed at Sabarimala for many years in one position or the other and the same was not good for the functioning of the temple. It ordered:

"We find that most of the top-level officers have been stationed at Sanidhanam itself for the past several years and they have been occupying one post or the other. This may not augur well for the better functioning of the Sannidhanam temple. Let the Board file a statement detailing the tenure of each of the officers and the period during which they have been stationed exclusively at Sannidhanam in various capacities. The Board shall also place before us, the account particulars and their records relating to the amounts disbursed to the Administrative Officers towards supplier costs concerning Ashtabhishekam for our perusal and also for the purpose of accounting if the same is required."

Advocate Sayujya Radhakrishnan appearing for the Special Commissioner submitted that out of the eight items required for Ashtabhishekam, five (panchamritham, ghee, honey, basmam, kalabham) are sourced from the Devaswom store whereas three items (milk, tender coconut and panineer) are procured by the Administrative Officer in-charge and that for procuring these items, the Officer would claim a sum of Rs. 300 per ashtabishekam without using any bill or any valid purchase vouchers to substantiate the expenditure.

The Court noted that the Vigilance Officer's report in this regard highlighted that there is no justification in sourcing only three items from outside while the other five are obtained from the store. It also noted that the report stated that merely by perusing the bills for 6 masapoojas, the total sum misappropriated is to the tune of Rs. 5,15,100. 

It also took note of the fact that the officer also reported that the accused in the two cases relating to the misappropriation of gold from Sabarimala have also occupied the chair of Executive and Administrative Officers and the same thing has been carried out for the last 10 years.

"The vigilance officer further reported that if the State Audit had conducted a proper audit with regard to the conduct of Ashtabhishekam for the last 10 years, the issues would have come light," the Court remarked.

The Special Commissioner's report also highlighted that the Administrative Officer is claiming purchase of the materials supplied by one Sunil Kumar @ Sunil Swami for the purpose of “Nithynidhana” pooja at Sabarimala and for use in Ganapathi prathishta at Malikappuram, and that the Board was also not issuing any receipts for the items supplied or recording the same in the registers.

The Court perused the report, which stated that the afore person expends around Rs. 3 lakhs for masapoojas and about Rs. 18 lakhs for Mandala Makaravilakku season and that he supplies 20 to 210 sacks of jaggery that are kept in the room adjacent to Administrative Officer's room.

"The vigilance officer has also stated that the practice of receiving the materials for masapooja from a particular person continuously without any authority in a temple like Sabarimala will only lead to corruption in various quarters...We also find that there is no justification in keeping a room adjacent to the room of the Administrative Officer to store the items supplied by Sunil Kumar. We also state that there is any justification in not entering the same in the nadavaravu register," the Court noted in its order.

The Court then directed the respondents, including the State, Police Co-ordinator, the TDB, the Devaswom Commissioner, Executive Officer and Chief Vigilance & Security Officer, to file a report of the purchase of pooja materials under the Store Purchase Rules to ensure transparency and the relevant rules and guidelines which are in vogue to regulate the same. State Audit Dept was directed to conduct an audit of the accounts relating to the Ashtabhishekham for the past 10 years and to give a report as to whether the Devaswom Board has incurred any loss on account of the same.

The case is posted for consideration next on Wednesday (May 27).

Case No: SSCR No. 14 of 2026

Case Title: Suo Motu v. State of Kerala and Ors.