Sabarimala Gold Theft: State Moves Kerala High Court To Cancel Rajeev Thantri's Bail, Expunge Special Court's Remarks Against Probe

The State government has moved the Kerala High Court seeking to cancel the bail granted to Kandararu Rajeevaru @ Rajeev Thantri, who is arrayed as an accused in the Sabarimala gold theft case. The plea also seeks to expunge the alleged adverse remarks made by the Special Judge against the investigation, stating them to be 'unwarranted and prejudicial to investigation'. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) is carrying out the investigation in the cases based on the direction of the Division Bench of the High Court.Rajeevaru was arrested by the Special Investigation Team in January and he was released after around 54 days in custody when the Court of the Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, Kollam granted him bail. He is arrayed as the 13th accused in the case relating to the misappropriation of gold from the doorframes of the Sreekovil in the temple. He is also accused in the Dwarapalaka idols case and arrayed as the 16th accused there.The prosecution allegation is that the accused persons, knowing that the Dwarapalaka idols and doorframes were gold-cladded, entered into a conspiracy and submitted a false report that these were merely copper plates and intended to be gold-plated. They then misappropriated the gold from the idols and the doorframes.He is accused of the offences under Sections 120B [Conspiracy], 403 [Dishonest misappropriation of property], 406 [Criminal breach of trust], 409 [Criminal breach of trust by public servant], 466 [Forgery of record of Court or of public register] and 467 [Forgery of valuable security] r/w Section 34 [Common intention] of the Indian Penal Code along with the offence under Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.The specific allegation against Rajeevaru is that at the time of the alleged occurred, he was the chief priest of the Sabarimala temple, holding ultimate authority in matters concerning rituals and religious sanctity of the temple, and he furnished a typed opinion dated 18.06.2019 agreeing with the proposal of re-plating the gold-cladded idols as suggested by prime accused Unnikrishnan Potty and this opinion formed the basis of the decision of the Travancore Devaswom Board to hand over the gold-cladded items.The plea states that the investigation carried out by the SIT revealed that Rajeevaru was physically present at Sabarimala and signed on the mahazar, which had falsely described the gold-cladded items as copper plates. It is further alleged that this was knowingly done since he had previous knowledge regarding the gold cladding as evident from the written letter submitted in 1998 by Rajeevaru and three other thantries recommending gold-cladding on the door, Ghanadwaram, Dwarapalaka idols, etc.It is also alleged that the investigation revealed that Rajeevaru purposefully abstained from signing the second mahazar, which was prepared when the items were returned, even though he was present at Sabarimala in an attempt to avoid direct traceability while still facilitating the illegal entrustment and transportation of the sacred artefacts outside the temple premises.As per the plea, the Special Judge failed to properly appreciate the gravity of the offences as well as the prima facie materials collected during investigation."His clout and influence, being the Thanthri, enabled the other accused to commit the offences. The impugned order virtually undertakes a premature evaluation of defence contentions regarding the scope of the Tantri's role and the interpretation of the [Devaswom] Manual, which are matters for trial and not for determination at the stage of bail. Such appreciation amounts to conducting a mini-trial and recording findings favorable to the accused at an interlocutory stage," states the plea.The plea also prays for removing 4 paragraphs of observations made by the Special Judge in the bail order. The Special Judge, while granting bail, had observed that the prosecution case as against Rajeevaru is unsupported by any prima facie materials, and there is no evidence connecting Rajeevaru with prime accused Potty or to the case.Case Title: State of Kerala v. Kandararu Rajeevaru @ Rajeev TClick to Read/Download Bail Order

Sabarimala Gold Theft: State Moves Kerala High Court To Cancel Rajeev Thantri's Bail, Expunge Special Court's Remarks Against Probe

K. Salma Jennath

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