Sabarimala gold heist case: Kerala HC junks plea against bail to tanthri

Kochi: High court on Tuesday dismissed the state govt’s petitions seeking the cancellation of the bail granted to Sabarimala tanthri Kandararu Rajeevaru in two cases relating to the alleged misappropriation of gold from the temple.

Meanwhile, Justice A Badharudeen expunged the remarks made by the special court against the findings of the special investigation team (SIT) while granting bail to Rajeevaru in connection with the alleged gold theft at the Sabarimala temple.

Rajeevaru was arrested on Jan 16 in connection with two cases involving the alleged misappropriation of gold from the gold-clad copper plate coverings of the dwarapalaka idols, as well as from the gold-clad encasings of the door frames of the main sreekovil and two prabha mandalam plates mounted above the sreekovil door frame. Subsequently, while granting him bail, the special court in Kollam observed that the allegation of criminal conspiracy against the tanthri was not supported by any prima facie material at that stage of the investigation.

The special court had further observed that no evidence had been produced by SIT to establish any direct nexus between Rajeevaru and the first accused. Aggrieved by these observations, the previous LDF-led state govt approached HC seeking their expunction. The petition also sought cancellation of the bail granted to Rajeevaru in both cases. However, the single bench dismissed the pleas seeking cancellation of bail while ordering the expunction of the remarks against the SIT.