'No Exceptional Circumstances': Kerala High Court Refuses To Entertain Ex-TDB Secy's Anticipatory Bail Plea In Sabarimala Gold Theft Case

The Kerala High Court on Monday refused to entertain the anticipatory bail plea of former secretary of the Travancore Devaswom Board and Thiruvabharanam Commissioner, who is booked in the Sabarimala gold theft case.The prosecution allegation was that the 1st accused Unnikrishnan Potti had misappropriated the gold from the Sabarimala Dwarapalaka idols with the assistance of the petitioner along with the other accused, who had the responsibility to protect the idols. She along with nine others are accused of the offences under Section 403 [Dishonest misappropriation of property], 406 [Punishment for criminal breach of trust], 409 [Criminal breach of trust by public, servant. or by banker, merchant or agent], 466 [Forgery of record of Court or of public register, etc.], 467 [Forgery of valuable security, will, etc.] and 34 [Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention] IPC in the FIR before the Crime Branch.In the petition, she asserted that she has not committed any acts or omissions to aid the other accused in detriment to the interest of the temple, deity, devotees and the TDB. It is further stated that going by the FIR, she has been implicated solely for issuing an order that reflected the Board's decision to handover the idols. She states that she has never visited Sabarimala till date even during childhood or after attaining the permissible age as she had to undergo prolonged treatment in the hospital, which is continuing even now. In her bail plea, the petitioner/accused stated that she is aged and undergoing treatment at a hospital in Ernakulam, which is an exceptional circumstance to directly approach the High Court.In view of the Supreme Court's observation in Mohammed Rasal C. v. State of Kerala, Justice K. Babu remarked that there were no exceptional circumstances justifying the petitioner to directly approach the High Court before going before the Sessions Court.The Court, thus, rejected the bail application and granted liberty to the petitioner to approach the Sessions Court concerned.Case No: Bail Appl. No. 13418 of 2025Case Title: S. Jayasree. v. State of Kerala and Anr.Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 706Counsel for the petitioner: R. RajanieCounsel for the respondents: M.K. Pushpalatha – Senior Public ProsecutorClick to Read/Download JudgmentAlso Read: Citing SC Observation, Kerala High Court Refrains From Hearing Anticipatory Bail Plea Filed Directly Without Approaching Sessions Court

'No Exceptional Circumstances': Kerala High Court Refuses To Entertain Ex-TDB Secy's Anticipatory Bail Plea In Sabarimala Gold Theft Case

K. Salma Jennath

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