KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday ordered a vigilance probe into the alleged misappropriation of funds from the sale of ‘aadiya sishtam ghee’ — the leftover ghee from Neyyabhishekam offerings — at the Sabarimala Sannidhanam.
A bench comprising Justices V Raja Vijayaraghavan and K V Jayakumar passed the order while considering a report submitted by the Sabarimala special commissioner, which called for a detailed investigation into suspected financial irregularities in the ghee sales.
The court noted that the estimated misappropriation during the periods between November 17, 2025, and December 26, 2026, and from December 27, 2025, to January 2, 2026, amounted to around ₹35 lakh. It directed the vigilance director to form a team of competent officers and initiate steps to register a case based on the report of the Travancore Devaswom Board’s (TDB) chief vigilance and security officer.
The vigilance team has been asked to submit a progress report within a month. The court also ruled that prior permission of the bench must be obtained before filing the final report before the jurisdictional court.
During an inspection conducted on December 14, 2025, the chief vigilance and security officer found that the sale proceeds from 16,628 packets of ghee sold through the Maramath Building counter had not been remitted to the TDB account.
The inspection further revealed that ghee was stored in a 700-litre steel tank and packed into 100 ml packets using a motorised system. The contractor was required to fill each packet with 100 ml of ghee, which was sold to devotees at ₹100 per packet.
Records showed that between November 17, 2025, and December 26, 2026, a total of 3,52,050 packets were prepared and handed over to the temple’s special officer for sale. Of these, around 89,300 packets were sold through the Maramath Building counter. However, employees deposited money for only 75,450 packets, indicating that the proceeds from 13,679 packets — amounting to ₹13.68 lakh — were not remitted.
Meanwhile, the TDB informed the court that a devaswom employee, Sunil Kumar Potti, had failed to issue receipts for ghee sales. Between November 24 and November 30, 2025, ₹68,200 collected from sales was not remitted to the board. The amount was deposited only after official directions were issued, and that too with a delay of 17 days.
Following the detection of irregularities, Sunil Kumar Potti was placed under suspension, and the board has proposed further disciplinary action against him.
