Supreme Court slams petitioner in Sabarimala gold theft case: 'You didn't even spare God

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The Supreme Court has dealt a major blow to KP Shankar Das, a former Devaswom Board member in the Sabarimala temple gold theft case. The apex court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking the removal of comments against him from a Kerala High Court order.

During the hearing, the bench headed by Justice Dipankar observed, "You didn't even spare God." The court also clarified that Shankar Das has a responsibility as a member of the Devaswom Board and cannot absolve himself of his role in the theft case. However, the Supreme Court also clarified that the Kerala High Court, in its order, had shown leniency only on the grounds of Shankar Das's age and health. The apex court upheld the High Court's observations and refused to remove him.

In fact, the Kerala High Court had stated in its order that K.P. Shankar Das and K. Vijayakumar could not escape criminal conspiracy in the Sabarimala temple gold theft case. Shankar Das had approached the Supreme Court seeking to have this High Court comment removed, but the Supreme Court refused to accept his arguments and dismissed his appeal.

The theft of several kilograms of gold and the disappearance of some valuables from the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple became a major issue. The gold was part of the plating on the gatekeeper idols donated by UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya in 1998-99. Following the intervention of the Kerala High Court, a high-level investigation was launched.

Following the investigation, N. Vasu and A. Padmakumar, former presidents of the Travancore Devaswom Board and senior leaders of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, were arrested. These arrests confirmed the opposition's stance that the temple administration was being used for personal gain by those close to power, leading to demands for a CBI investigation into the wider conspiracy. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala gold theft case has so far arrested several people, including Vasu and Padmakumar.