After Sabarimala gold theft, now ghee scam? Kerala HC orders vigilance probe into ‘misappropriation of Rs 35 lakh’ | Kochi News
KOCHI: High court on Tuesday ordered a vigilance probe into the alleged misappropriation of proceeds from the sale of ‘aadiya sishtam ghee’ (the ghee left over after the Neyyabhishekam offering) at the Sabarimala Sannidhanam.A bench of Justices V Raja Vijayaraghavan and K V Jayakumar passed the order while considering a report submitted by the Sabarimala special commissioner, which sought a detailed vigilance investigation into the alleged misappropriation of funds from the sale of the ghee.
HC noted that the alleged misappropriation during the periods from Nov 17, 2025, to Dec 26, 2026, and from Dec 27, 2025, to Jan 2, 2026, was estimated to be around Rs 35 lakh. The court directed the vigilance director to constitute a team of competent officers and initiate steps to register a crime based on the report of TDB’s chief vigilance and security officer.The vigilance team has been directed to submit a progress report within a month. HC further ordered that prior permission of the bench must be obtained before filing the final report before the jurisdictional court.During an inspection conducted by the chief vigilance and security officer on Dec 14, 2025, it was found that the sale proceeds of 16,628 packets of ghee sold through the Maramath Building counter had not been remitted to TDB account. It was also noted that ghee is stored in a steel tank with a capacity of 700 litres and filled into packets using a motor. The contractor was required to fill each packet with 100 millilitres of ghee, which was then sold to devotees at the counters for Rs 100 per packet.The inspection revealed that between Nov 17, 2025 and to Dec 26, 2026, the contractor had packed 3,52,050 packets of 100 ml each, which were handed over to the temple special officer for sale. Of these, about 89,300 packets were sold through the Maramath Building counter on various days. However, the employees in charge of the counter deposited money only in respect of 75,450 packets. The records, therefore, indicate that the sale proceeds of 13,679 packets, amounting to Rs 13.68 lakh, were not remitted.Meanwhile, TDB informed HC that Sunil Kumar Potti, a devaswom employee, had failed to issue receipts for the sale of ghee to devotees. Between Nov 24, 2025 and to Nov 30, 2025, an amount of Rs 68,200 collected from sales was not remitted to the board. TDB stated that the amount was remitted only after directions were issued, and that too after a delay of 17 days. Upon receiving information regarding the misappropriation, Sunil Kumar Potti was placed under suspension, and further disciplinary action has been proposed against him, the board informed.
