Thiruvananthapuram Oct 21 (IANS) Congress General Secretary and Alappuzha MP K.C. Venugopal on Tuesday demanded the immediate resignation of Devaswom Minister V.N. Vasavan and the Travancore Devaswom Board members following the Kerala High Court’s interim order that pointed to a possible criminal conspiracy in the Sabarimala gold plating case.

The court’s interim order came out on Tuesday after the SIT it had appointed made the first presentation in the probe.

The SIT has now registered two FIRs, named 10 people as accused, and so far, has arrested ‘sponsor’ Unnikrishnan Potti.

Venugopal said the court’s observations clearly indicated that the present Devaswom Board had deliberately concealed the 2019 gold theft at the Sabarimala temple and yet, in 2025, went ahead to assign Potti the task of gold-plating the Dwarapalaka gold plates.

The High Court, he said, had noted this as a suspicious act that raised questions of complicity at the highest levels.

“The court has made an unambiguous observation that a criminal conspiracy was behind the Sabarimala gold loot,” Venugopal said.

“It also confirmed that the theft occurred with the silent consent of the Devaswom Board. Just as records were tampered with in the 2019 gold plating project, there has been manipulation again in 2025. Under these circumstances, neither the Minister nor the current Board has any moral or administrative right to continue in office,” he asserted.

Describing the episode as an “organised looting operation”, Venugopal alleged that both the Board and the state government had created the conditions that enabled the misappropriation. “This is not limited to a few errant officials. The entire system is complicit. No one should imagine that they can escape by blaming the previous Board alone,” he said.

Pointing out that the High Court itself had highlighted serious irregularities, the Congress leader said those in power should act responsibly.

“If the Minister and the Board have even a trace of shame, they should resign. Otherwise, if they continue to defend the wrongdoing with hollow arguments, the Congress will be compelled to launch a massive public agitation,” he warned.

–IANS

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