Overview

• The court said gold‑clad plates on the sanctum door frames were handed to sponsor Unnikrishnan Potty and misrecorded as copper, extending scrutiny beyond the Dwarapalaka idols.
• Drawing on the vigilance report, judges noted 409 g of gold extracted from door frames and 577 g from idols and 14 items, with a 474.9 g balance given to Potty not shown as returned to the Travancore Devaswom Board.
• A criminal case will be registered and a Special Investigation Team led by ADG H. Venkatesh will report directly to the High Court in sealed submissions under strict confidentiality.
• The High Court ordered seized records kept with the Registrar General for safe custody and restricted parties, including Potty, from speaking to the media about the probe.
• Retired Justice K. T. Sankaran has begun an inventory of valuables at Sabarimala and will inspect the TDB strongroom at Aranmula, while opposition parties escalate protests and seek a court‑monitored CBI inquiry.