Overview

• The court directed police to register a case over alleged misappropriation from the shrine’s side frames or lintels, noting a vigilance finding that about 474.9 grams of gold was handed to sponsor Unnikrishnan Potty without records showing its return.
• A court-supervised SIT led by ADG H. Venkatesh, with SP S. Sasidharan running operations, must file a sealed report in six weeks with confidential fortnightly updates, with seized records kept by the registrar and scope to add two DySPs.
• The bench prohibited Potty from speaking to the media and questioned the Travancore Devaswom Board’s 2019 handover of gold-plated plates to him and Chennai-based Smart Creations.
• Political fallout intensified as the Kerala Assembly saw repeated disruptions over the issue, culminating in the suspension of Congress MLAs Roji M. John, M. Vincent and Saneesh Kumar Joseph after clashes with watch-and-ward staff.
• Protests widened with the Congress planning multi-state prayer gatherings and seeking a CBI probe, while BJP-led demonstrations at district collectorates saw water-cannon dispersals in several locations.