The caucus allegedly behind the Sabarimala gold loot has suffered a heavy and rude blow from the Supreme Court of India. On January 5, the Supreme Court rejected a petition filed by K.P. Sankaradas, a former CPM nominee to the Tiruvitamcoor Devaswom Board. His plea sought exemption from arrest in connection with the Sabarimala gold loot. The Court held that Sankaradas, in his capacity as a Devaswom Board member, could not disown responsibility, and observed in sharp terms that “even God was not spared”.
While expressing sympathy over the petitioner’s age, the Supreme Court refused to expunge the remarks made by the Kerala High Court. Sankaradas is said to be 84. The Court noted that the High Court had questioned why the police had not arrested him despite his collective responsibility in the case. Sankaradas was a member of the Devaswom Board during the tenure of the arrested A. Padmakumar as its president.
The Supreme Court suggested that Sankaradas approach the High Court for anticipatory bail. It also delivered severe criticism in the matter, stating that Sankaradas, who had signed the Devaswom Board’s minutes, could not evade responsibility. The Court declined to interfere with his plea seeking the removal of five paragraphs from a Kerala High Court single-bench judgment.
Devotees, it is said, have not forgotten Sankaradas’s role during the tense days of ritual violation at the Sabarimala Temple, initiated during the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government headed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. During that period, Sankaradas’s son, S. Harisankar IPS, was the District Police Chief of Kottayam. Kottayam shares a border with Pathanamthitta district, where the Sabarimala temple is located. S. Harisankar faced allegations of facilitating the entry of ‘undesired’ young women into the temple, resulting in the violation of temple rituals. As per the prevailing custom, women between the ages of 10 and 50 are not permitted to enter the temple.
