THRISSUR: The auction of the SUV Mahindra Thar donated to
Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple
as an offering has triggered a controversy.
The vehicle was auctioned to Amal Muhammed Ali from
Kochi
at a price of Rs 15,10,000, on Saturday. Subhash Panikker from Guruvayur participated in the auction on behalf of Muhammed Ali, who is a
NRI
businessman, based in
Bahrain
.
Interestingly, Panikker was the only participant in the auction bid. The devaswom had fixed Rs 15 lakh as the base price of the vehicle, which was offered to the temple by the Mahindra Group. Since the devaswom had decided that the starting auction amount should be at least Rs 10,000, higher than the base price, he offered Rs 15,10,000 and since no one else joined as competitor, the auction was fixed at Rs 15,10,000.
However, later Subhash reportedly told the media that he was prepared to go up to Rs 25 lakh to buy the vehicle in the auction. On hearing this the devaswom chairman, K B Mohandas, said the devaswom may now face allegations that it has auctioned off the vehicle at Rs 15,10,000 when the participant himself had come prepared to the auction for a higher price.
Panikker, however, said it was wrong to review an auction fixed after the process, and will legally challenge, if such a review takes place.
Devaswom administrator Vinayan said the devaswom managing committee will take a final decision on proceeding with the auction results. The committee is meeting on December 21.
The devaswom sources, however, said the vehicle was likely to be handed over to the winner of Saturday’s auction. The chairman said the auction price was reasonable, and the auctioneer will have to pay GST also in addition to the auction amount.
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