Kerala temple trust to face audit of 25 yrs: SC
An administrative committee mandated to conduct a special audit of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple will also scrutinise the finances of the temple trust over the 25-year period from 1989-90 to 2013-14 as well, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, rejecting the trust’s contention that the top court’s verdict last year did not cover the trust.
The three-judge bench comprising justices UU Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and Bela M Trivedi also told the committee headed by the Thiruvananthapuram district judge to complete the audit within three months.
“In the light of developments leading to the passing of judgment dated July 13, 2020, it is quite clear that the audit contemplated by said direction was not intended to be confined to the temple but was also with respect to Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple Trust (SPSTT),” the bench said on Wednesday.
The court relied on two extracts from its 2020 judgment to turn down the trust’s request.
Firstly, the report of senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, who as amicus curiae, produced a report recommending a special audit of not just the temple but the trust as well. It noted that the April 15, 2014 report of former CAG Vinod Rai, specifically pointed out that the temple trust’s utilization of income hadn’t been adequately established.
Second, the bench also noted that senior advocate Arvind Datar, who appeared for the trust in proceedings leading to the 2020 verdict, agreed to the trust’s audit on May 5, 2015.
The temple, located in the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram, came under media glare in 2011 when a vast treasure was discovered in its vaults, known as “Kallara” in Malayalam. The vaults were opened pursuant to a May 2011 order of the apex court. It was estimated that the intrinsic value of the treasure in five of the six vaults which were opened amounted to more than Rs 90,000 crore.
In its petition objecting to the district committee’s move to audit its finances, the temple trust requested the court to give a finding that it should be declared as an independent entity to ensure that it does not come under the management of the administrative committee. The bench refrained from going into that aspect, saying, “This will require assessment of facts which analysis may appropriately be done by a court or an authority competent to go into that question after the special audit is conducted.”
The administrative committee, which was also entrusted with the interim management of the temple and its properties, filed two reports before the top court indicating that the temple’s financial position was in a bad shape due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown last year. As there was no income during the lockdown, the committee dipped into the temple’s savings to meet routine expenses to cover money incurred on performing rituals, and paying salary, wages and pension of staffers.
Senior advocate R Basant, who appeared for the committee, said the temple faced an “unprecedented crisis” as its income wasn’t not enough to meet its monthly expenses of Rs 1.25 crore and sought the help from the temple trust and the government to tide over the situation. The July 2020 order was crucial for the running of the temple as it set aside a Kerala High Court direction of 2011 allowing the state government to take over the temple.
The Supreme Court held that the temple will be managed by the royal family and will enjoy shebaitship, the right to maintain and manage the temple and the deity. The administrative committee was told to manage the affairs of the temple as an interim measure.
When the administrative committee decided on October 27, 2020 to appoint an auditing firm to look into the temple and the trust’s finances, the Trust refused to cooperate with the auditor and filed an application before the Supreme Court stating that the 1965 trust was not meant to oversee the puja and other rituals and had nothing to do with the day-to-day functioning of the temple.