8 diamonds vanish from Kerala temple
NEW DELHI: Eight antique diamonds adorning the forehead of an idol at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple were missing, the Supreme Court was told on Monday, the latest theft to be reported from one of the world’s richest Hindu shrines.
The crime branch of the Kerala Police were investigating the theft, senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, who is assisting the court in a case of alleged mismanagement of the shrine, said in his report about the Thiruvananthapuram-based temple whose wealth is estimated at ₹1.5 lakh crore.
Though the diamonds, part of the Namam (tilakam), were officially valued at ₹21 lakh, it was a conservative estimate as the value was “far beyond the figure” because of their antiquity, the report said.
Ten months ago gold worth ₹189 crore was reported missing from the temple by former comptroller and auditor general of India Vinod Rai.
Asked by the court to audit the temple’s famed treasures, Rai said 769 gold pots were missing.
Questions have been raised over the management of the tem- ple dedicate to Lord Padmanabha. In 2009 a former police officer filed a case in the Kerala high court alleging mismanagement of the assets by the erstwhile royal family of Travancore.
A petition in the Supreme Court has asked that a trust or a separate body be formed to manage the temple, as it riches were being plundered.
It has also asked for an inventory of the treasures.
The temple shot to fame seven years ago when the court ordered a list be drawn up of the temple wealth after six underground vaults were discovered. Rare jewels, gold coins, diamond-studded thrones, crowns and gold bars were found when all but one vault were opened. NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court stayed on Monday criminal contempt proceedings against author-activist Arundhati Roy.
The proceedings were initiated suo motu by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court in 2015 taking cognisance of her alleged remarks against the judiciary for not granting bail to former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba’s, who was facing criminal charges for being a Maoist “sympathiser.”
Roy has challenged the proceedings before the SC.
A bench headed by CJI JS Khehar admitted the appeal and stayed the proceedings. This means the case against Roy would not proceed in the HC until the apex court decides her plea, which as per the SC rules would be heard after three years.
Earlier in the day, to the court’s query whether Roy would apologise for her remarks, her counsel answered in negative.
The lawyer later told HT: “Arundhati wrote an article on the medical condition of the professor. But she never criticised the judiciary for not granting Saibaba bail as has been alleged.”