Coming down hard on the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), the Kerala High Court on Monday asked what role the board played if all key responsibilities were handed over to businessman Unnikrishnan Potti, the main accused in the alleged misappropriation of gold from the Sabarimala temple. A single bench of Justice A Badharudin was hearing the prosecution’s arguments that among other things, the work of gold plating on the door frames and Dwarapalaka statues was entrusted to him. The court expressed surprise as to why such important tasks were handed over to a single person.

The court was headed by former TDB president A. Padmakumar was hearing the bail pleas of Bellary-based gold trader Govardhan and former Sabarimala executive officer Murari Babu, who were named accused in the case. Mr Govardhan said he “remained in jail for 25 days, although he spent ₹1.

40 crore (from his own pocket) for various works at Sabarimala. ” The SIT probing the case opposed the bail plea, saying his continued custody was required as he had a “major role” in the alleged misappropriation of gold from the temple.