Counsel: Take off royals’ privileges from Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple
The royal family has failed to submit the full inventory on the temple properties to the court
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-04-19 23:46 GMT
Thiruvananthapuram: Amicus curiae Gopal Subramanyam has recommended that the keys of the vaults of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, which were now in the possession of the royal family, should be transferred to the custody of Thiruvananthapuram district court judge.
Mr Subramanyam in his 537-page report submitted to the Supreme Court has recommended the removal of the special rights of Travancore royal family on the administration of the temple.
The recovery of a gold plating machine inside the temple premises should be viewed seriously. The report wanted installation of CCTV cameras inside the vaults as there are several secret corridors in the temple.
The police should also reinvestigate the case in which the body of an auto driver was found in the temple pond during Lakshadeepam. The report, which would be considered by the Supreme Court on April 23, has also recommended reinvestigation into the case relating to the throwing of acid in which temple staff member Padmanabha Das sustained injuries. A committee headed by royal family member Gowri Lakshmi Bayi should investigate the allegations of sexual misbehaviour towards a woman employee of the temple, it said.
The royal family members should not be allowed to interfere directly or indirectly in the administration of the temple as family members considered it as their private property and not public wealth.
The royal family has failed to submit the full inventory on the temple properties to the court. All sub-registrar offices in the state should be given instructions to furnish the details regarding the transaction of properties owned by Sree Padmanabhaswami minor, the report said. Measures should be taken to retrieve temple properties that have been illegally encroached upon. These properties should be protected in the future, the report said.
It noted many anomalies in the temple accounts and wanted an audit by former Auditor and Comptroller-General Vinod Rai on the temple wealth and income. The temple administrators did not help the expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court.
The executive officer did remote administration, the report said. It also suggested that the temple administrative officer be replaced with a former executive officer. It pointed towards an unholy association between the temple staff and the royal family.
The state government has misled the Supreme Court by joining hands with the royal family, it said. The report has recommended a hike in the salary of the temple staff and a separate box for depositing the money given to the assistant temple priest.
The report suggested the deployment of central forces along with Kerala police to provide security to the temple. The executive officer should be given power over the police in charge of the security.
The family members can go to the temple and pray. They can also give any suggestion in writing to the new temple administrative committee, the report said.
Dewaswom Minister V.S. Sivakumar said that there were constrains for the state government in interfering in the administration of the temple.
The government was thinking of a system like that of the Guruvayur Dewaswom Board for administration of the temple, Mr Sivakumar said.