Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday directed the SIT probing the Sabarimala gold loss cases to expedite the process to ensure that trial proceedings begin without further delay.
The direction came after the SIT informed a bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and K V Jayakumar that the draft chargesheet in the case relating to the alleged loss of gold from the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) door frames had been approved by the Assistant Legal Advisor and that requests for prosecution sanction had been submitted for all 13 accused.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) is probing the Sreekovil case and the alleged misappropriation of gold from the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols at the temple.
The SIT told the court that in the Sreekovil case, applications seeking sanction for prosecution have been submitted to the Secretary, Revenue (Devaswom) Department, in respect of the accused, who are public servants, as they have been booked for offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Applications for prosecution sanction have also been submitted to the TDB regarding the accused who were appointed by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).
Taking note of the submission, the bench said, "Let the matter be expedited so that the trial proceedings can commence without further delay."
The SIT also told the High Court that 13 persons have been arrayed as accused in the final report, 350 witnesses have been cited and it includes a list of 285 documents and 12 material objects.
"The officer heading the Special Investigation Team submits that the final report will be filed before the jurisdictional Court upon receipt of the requisite prosecution sanctions," the bench noted.
Regarding the Dwarapalaka case, the SIT told the court that the investigation has reached the last lap and assured that the same will be finalised and requests for prosecution sanction will be submitted after that.
In view of the submissions, the court listed the matter for hearing on December 2.
The SIT had arrested more than 15 people, including Tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru and three former TDB presidents in the two cases.