Kerala High Court Building. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Stating that it may not be appropriate to entrust the investigation into the alleged misappropriation of gold from the flag mast of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating other serious and similar offences at the temple, the Kerala High Court on Monday directed a probe by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) into the matter.
A Division Bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V. and Justice K.V. Jayakumar passed the interim order after the SIT submitted details of a complaint about the alleged misappropriation of gold and cash in connection with the installation of a new flag mast at the temple in 2017.
In its preliminary report, the SIT says that the decision to replace the flag mast was taken on the premise that the old mast had substantially deteriorated due to wear and tear.
In 2017, 9.16 kg of gold was purchased from the Customs department. The total quantity of gold available, including Customs purchase and donations, was 9,573 gm, whereas the quantity recorded as utilised for the flag mast was 9,340 gm.
The absence of individual donor receipts rendered it impossible to verify the exact quantity donated. This constituted a serious procedural lapse and a grave violation of Devaswom rules and financial accountability norms, the probe team informed the court.
The SIT submitted that it proposed to undertake specialised scientific examinations, including X Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy to determine surface elemental composition, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry for ultra-trace impurity and elemental profiling, and Optical Emission Spectroscopy to analyse alloy composition and metallurgical uniformity, to compare between the original gold clad layers and the subsequently ‘gold plated’ surfaces of idols and door frames.
The advanced analytical facilities required for these examinations are not available at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. None of the forensic labs in Kerala are equipped to carry out the above tests. The SIT is therefore approaching premier national research institutions and laboratories, including the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur, and Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad, to undertake these specialised tests, it said.
The court said allegations of this nature, involving the removal and substitution of precious gold cladding from the temple, strike at the very sanctity of the temple. Scientific evidence would enable the court to quantify material loss, determine the stages and methods of manipulation, correlate timelines of alteration, and fix criminal liability with precision against those responsible.
For this purpose, the court permitted the collection of representative samples from the Sannidhanam on February 12, under controlled and documented conditions.
The SIT in its report submitted that scientific analysis of the Dwarapalaka Idols, which were gold-plated in 2025, was being carried out and certain pertinent aspects ought to be ascertained.
In the first phase, clinching documentary materials had been secured establishing that the sanctum sancotum, side frames, pillar plates, Dwarapalakas and allied structures were originally clad with gold by McDowell and Company.
The probe also covers the alleged removal of the Dwarapalaka plates, side plates and door frames with the intention of misappropriating the gold cladding affixed thereto, and thereafter gold plating the same using minimal quantities of gold so as to conceal the misappropriation and theft, it said.
The matter was posted for hearing on February 19.
Published – February 09, 2026 09:00 pm IST
