Supreme Court panel report hints at gold pilferage in Padmanabhaswamy temple

Sri Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram which has gold worth over Rs 1 lakh crore is in the news again. The Supreme Court appointed Amicus Curie and former Solicitor General of India Gopal Subramanian has made some startling revelations in his report to the Apex court. According his report, gold plating machines were found inside the temple leading to suspicion that gold at the temple is systematically being stolen by some 'very influential' people. The report suggests that some people on the highest echelons of the temple administration may have something to do with it. It also raises serious questions over the manner in which the Travancore royal family is administering the temple. Report talks about how an auto-driver was found dead in a well near the temple and the acid attack on another person.

The report, (a copy of the report is in the possession of CNN-IBN/IBNLive) says "it appears that there has been large scale breach of moral and fiduciary duties towards Sree Padmanabhaswamy and the temple, and the temple which is a public temple has been treated for all effects and purposes as a private fiefdom". It also comes down heavily on the auditors accusing them of "failing in performing their ethical and moral duties". The Amicus Curie has suggested that an independent team comprising people like former CAG Vinod Rai and a Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India must conduct a fresh auditing of the temple. The century old temple has been the royal family temple of the Travancore kings who ruled southern part of Kerala till it joined

the Union of India after Independence from the British. The secret vaults in the temple have gold and gold ornaments worth over Rs1 lakh crore. The government is spending over Rs 1 crore on the security of the temple every month. Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple wealth: Achuthanandan says his stand vindicated

Seizing on the report of amicus curiae pointing to "mismanagement" of the famous Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, CPI-M leader V S Achuthanandan today said it only vindicated his stand that attempts were made to take away its riches to which UDF government turned a blind eye.

In the light of the report submitted to the Supreme Court, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Devaswom Minister V S Sivakumar should explain why the government did not take any step to ensure that the temple and its wealth were managed properly, he said in a statement here. "When I said that there had been attempts to take away the precious treasures of the temple, the government not only took it lightly but accused me of casting aspersions on the Travancore royal house. The report submited in the Supreme Court by amicus curiae Goapal Subraniam has vindicated what I had said," the nonagenarian leader said.

When the Kerala High Court directed the government to look into the possibilities of freeing the temple from the control of the royal house, the then LDF government headed by him had declined to challenge that in the apext court. But further steps in that direction could not be taken as the assembly elections were declared, he said. However, the UDF government that came to power in 2011 did not challenge the royal house when it approached the Supreme Court against the high court order, he said. Amicus Curie Report