The hearing was held on Wednesday in Sabarimala 'Bhandaram' theft case: Need for a tough officer on campus! Kerala High Court
the Kerala High Court regarding two cases of theft at Sabarimala Bhandara. During this, the court said in its order that there is a need to appoint a strict officer on the premises.
Concerning two incidents of theft from Lord Ayyappa temple 'Bhandaram' in Sabarimala in just over a month, the Kerala High Court on Wednesday said there should be a "strict authority" to prevent such offenses.
Theft by employees
On December 16, 2021, an employee of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), appointed to count currency at Sabarimala Sannidhanam's 'Bhandaram', was caught stealing money from there. On searching the rooms of this employee, Rs 42,470 was recovered. At the same time, on January 8, 2022, another employee appointed to count currency was also caught red-handed stealing Rs 3,500 from 'Bhandara'.
The second incident of theft happened despite the High Court's directions on December 21, 2021. This time the High Court had said in the order that "the entire activity in 'Bhandaram' at Sabarimala Sannidhanam should be continuously monitored so that theft can be prevented while counting notes, coins, prasad, etc. by the employees. The court said in the order that strict action would be taken against any such offense by the employees. Such incidents will be brought to the notice of the Special Commissioner, Sabarimala, who will file a report and bring it to the notice of the court. The High Court, in an earlier order, had said that the action taken against such employees will also be brought to the notice of the Special Commissioner so that he can file an appropriate report before this court.
A bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and PG Ajit Kumar on Wednesday reiterated its directions dated December 21, 2021, and disposed of the petition filed based on the latest incident of theft. The bench reiterated its earlier directions and said that there should be a strict officer. Crime cases were registered only because we had passed some orders.
During the hearing of the matter, the bench was told that an FIR has already been registered in connection with the latest incident and the guilty TDB employees are in judicial custody. The court was told that similar action was taken against a TDB employee who was caught stealing money from 'Bhandaram' in December last year.
