Ghee case: Kerala HC junk pre-arrest bail plea of Sabarimala ex-special officer

Kochi: High court has dismissed the pre-arrest bail petition filed by former Sabarimala special officer S R Santhosh Kumar in a case registered by the vigilance department regarding the alleged misappropriation of proceeds from the sale of ‘aadiya sishtam ghee' at the Sabarimala temple.Justice A Badharudeen, on Monday, dismissed the petition filed by Santhosh Kumar, the first accused in the case, observing that the investigation was at an initial stage. Earlier, an HC division bench had ordered a vigilance probe into the alleged misappropriation of proceeds from the sale of ghee during the last Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season, after perusing a report submitted by the Sabarimala special commissioner.Opposing the anticipatory bail plea, the investigation team informed HC that as many as 33 persons –– three temple special officers and 30 counter staff –– had been arrayed as accused in the case. The misappropriation detected so far has been quantified at Rs 21.39 lakh.In his petition, Santhosh Kumar claimed that he had no role in the alleged misappropriation and that he has a 60% visual impairment. However, HC observed that it was the petitioner's duty to ensure that no misappropriation occurred at the ghee counters at Sabarimala and that the amount collected was properly credited to the account of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB). HC further held that custodial interrogation of the petitioner was necessary to ascertain the extent of the misappropriation and the utilisation of the funds. Accordingly, HC dismissed the petition.