In a nuanced legal development, a Vigilance court in Kollam granted statutory bail on Wednesday to Unnikrishnan Potty, the key accused in the Sabarimala gold misappropriation scandal. Despite this, Potty isn't walking free just yet; he remains behind bars due to a separate, ongoing judicial custody involving the alleged theft of gold from the doors of the temple's sanctum sanctorum.
The court's decision to grant bail specifically concerns the case involving the Dwarapalaka idols. Potty’s legal team argued for his release so that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) missed the mandatory 90-day window to file a formal charge sheet. Under the law, if the prosecution fails to meet this deadline, the accused becomes eligible for what is known as "default" or statutory bail.
While the judge has cleared his release in this particular instance, the full list of bail conditions and the court's detailed reasoning are still being processed.
The fallout from this investigation has been massive. Potty was originally taken into custody in October after a grueling 11-hour interrogation session. The probe itself was sparked by a Kerala High Court directive after the Devaswom Vigilance wing flagged that significant amounts of gold were missing from the world-famous hill shrine.
At present, the SIT has cast a wide net and has arrested a total of 12 people who are involved in the scam. The list of accused includes high-profile people, as it not only includes the temple staff like Potty but also two former presidents of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which reveals the extent of corruption in the temple administration.
Also read: Sabarimala gold loss case: ED raids 21 sites across 3 states
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