Padmanabha Swamy temple audit likely in June

Thiruvananthapuram: The audit at the Sreepadmanabha Swami temple is likely to be held in June under the supervision of  former Comptroller and Auditor-General of India Vinod Rai, who has been entrusted with the task by the Supreme Court. He visited the temple on Monday and held preliminary talks with the temple protection committee members.

Mr Vinod Rai will audit  the funds of the last 25 years. He will be in the capital for the next two days. He told reporters here that more details on the audit  would be disclosed later. He held talks with the temple protection committee chairman and additional judge K. P. Indira, CEO K. N. Satheesh and chartered accountant S. Vijayakumar.

Mr Satheesh has asked the temple staffers to give the documents to the auditing team and also sent a letter to Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma, the current head of the erstwhile Travancore royal family. The letter has been given asking him to produce any documents which would throw light on the assets and properties relating to the temple. As part of documenting the audits, an office also has to be set up.

The special auditing team will consist of a retired team of officials from the Accountant-General’s office here. This is for the first time that Mr Vinod Rai, a former Kerala cadre IAS officer, has come to the  city since the Supreme Court entrusted him to supervise the special auditing of the temple.

The apex court order came after financial irregularities and mismanagement were reported by the amicus curiae and Supreme Court-designate judge Gopal Subramaniam.