ex-tdb-officer-gets-statutory-bail-in-sabarimala-gold-scam-case

The Sabarimala gold scandal saw its first major release on Friday as a Kollam court granted statutory bail to Murari Babu, a former administrative officer of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB). Babu, who has been held in a Thiruvananthapuram jail since October, is expected to be released this evening after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) failed to file a chargesheet within the mandatory 90-day window.

 

Babu's legal victory stems from a technicality in the law: when the prosecution misses the 90-day deadline, the accused is entitled to "default" or statutory bail. He is currently facing charges in two high-profile cases— he is the second accused in the alleged theft of gold from the Dwarapalaka idols and the sixth accused in the case involving gold loss from the sanctum sanctorum doorframes.

 

The core of the allegation against Babu is one of conspiracy. Investigators claim that when the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potty, suggested electroplating the temple’s sacred idols and doorframes, Babu was the one who pushed the proposal through to the Devaswom Board. At the time of his arrest, Babu was the Deputy Devaswom Commissioner in Haripad, though he was quickly suspended once the scandal broke last year.

 

While prime accused Unnikrishnan Potty was granted bail in the Dwarapalaka case earlier this week, he remains in custody for the sanctum sanctorum case. Babu, however, secured bail for both, making him the first of the arrested suspects to actually head home.

 

The SIT has already named 16 people in the idol case and 13 in the doorframe case, but this delay in filing formal chargesheets is becoming a hurdle for the prosecution. Police sources suggest that more of the arrested suspects are likely to flood the court with bail applications if the SIT doesn't wrap up its paperwork soon. Despite these procedural delays, the Kerala High Court recently stood by the investigators, stating it was satisfied with the "in-depth" nature of the ongoing probe.

 

Also read: PM Modi bats for 'Viksit Keralam', slams Left, Congress