Pankaj Bhandhari, accused in the Sabarimala gold theft case, was pulled up by the Supreme Court today when he applied for bail. "Is there any gold left in Sabarimala?" said Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, who along with Justice Dipankar Datta, was hearing the case. The matter will be heard next on March 9.
Bhandari is the chief executive officer of Chennai's "Smart Creations", who has been accused of misappropriation of gold from the Sabarimala temple. He approached the top court after the Kerala High Court dismissed his bail plea on February 13.
Bhandari had been named as accused in two cases. The CEO of the firm where the Dwarapalaka idols and the heritage door frames of the sanctum sanctorum were taken for gold plating, has been charged by the Special Investigative Team which is probing the case, with holding a secret meeting in Bengaluru.
The court had been regularly taking to task the people associated with the theft.
On January 22, dismissing bail plea of former TDB chief N Vasu, the top court had said: "You claimed to be a worshipper and robbed the lord".
On January 5, while refusing relief to former former Travancore Devaswom Board member KP Shankardas, the top court had said, "You did not spare even the god".
Earlier, dismissing the bail application of Ex Travancore Devaswom Board President N Vasu, Justice Dipankar Datta asked: "You claim to be a worshipper and then you rob the lord ? Steal away the gold".
The Special Investigation Team, asked with probing the stripping of gold from the door frames and doorkeeper idols, said the theft was the result of meticulous planning and detailed conspiracy.
In June 2019, main accused Unnikrishnan Potty had offered to carry out repairs and refurbish the gold-plating of the doorkeeper idols and the sanctum's door frames.
In July, the temple authorities gave permission for the removal of the artifacts and 12 images of Dwarapalakas.
Though all 14 artifacts were gold-plated, the records falsely described them as copper plates. The total weight was recorded as 25.4 kg. On July 20, two door frames weighing 17.4 kg were handed over for fresh plating.
The collection was taken to Pankaj Bhandari's Smart Creations in Chennai and there, the gold was extracted by workers under instructions from Unnikrishnan Potti.
The SIT claims 989 gm of gold was recovered from the stripping process -- 409 gm from door frames, 577 gm from Dwarapalakas and other artifacts and 3 gm from residual solutions.
The significant reduction in weight due to gold stripping went unnoticed by the officials, the SIT said, which marked their involvement.
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