Former CAG Vinod Rai points out irregularities in Padmanabhaswamy temple
Former CAG Vinod Rai, who was appointed by the Supreme Court to monitor an audit of the temple's riches, said there are discrepancies about the weight of the jewellery kept in the temple's vaults.
Discrepancies are tumbling out of the vaults in Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram.
According to former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai, there are several irregularities in the records maintained by the temple authority of the wealth kept in the vaults of the ancient temple. Talking to MAIL TODAY, the former top auditor, who was appointed by the Supreme Court to monitor an audit of the temple's riches, said there are discrepancies about the weight of the jewellery kept in the temple's vaults. Moreover, the temple administration did not use credible accounting procedure, he added.
"There are bars of silver and gold in place of jewellery. Moreover, irregularities in the quantity or weight of precious jewellery have also been found out," Rai told Mail Today.
Rai, who is heading an eightmember audit team, has submitted a 15-page interim report to the apex court. The final report covering the audit of transactions of at least seven years will be complete by the end of March 2015, Rai said.
According to an estimate, the riches inside the temple - mounds of precious gems, lakhs of gold coins, gold chains, rings and bars, and gold barrels - are worth over Rs 1.5 lakh crore.
After the metal doors of the secret cellar in the temple were opened three years back, the wealth was uncovered. While five vaults were opened in 2011 after a Supreme Court order, the mysterious Vault-B has not yet been opened. However, Rai informed the Supreme Court that to his knowledge Vault-B has been opened several times since 1990. Illustrating from the records maintained by the temple authorities, Rai stated in his first report that Vault-B was opened twice in 1990 and five times in 2002.
"Silver ingots were taken out. Gold vessels were deposited and subsequently taken out as evidenced from the entries in the registers maintained by the treasurer of the temple and as produced before the audit team," Rai said while talking about his first report. According to Rai, this was an area that required close scrutiny and verification. Meanwhile, sources claimed Godrej Security Solutions has agreed to provide comprehensive integrated security solution for the famous temple. In the last few months the temple has put in place world-class security systems to counter any kind of untoward incident, including terrorist attacks. Bollards and modern equipments have been put in place.
Police has also installed sensors and additional surveillance cameras at all the crucial spots in temple's secret vaults where the treasures are kept, besides other places. The aim, police sources said, is to tackle possible attacks by the extremists. Security experts are not ruling out such an attack.
The control of the temple fell into the hands of the royal family of Travancore after Maharajah Sree Anizham Thirunal dedicated the Travancore kingdom to the deity in 1750. The family then ruled as servants of Padmanabha. Since then the royal family controlled a trust which administered the temple and its riches.
In 2009, a retired IPS officer, the late T.P. Sundar Rajan, filed a petition in the Kerala High Court, alleging mismanagement of the temple's assets. The retired officer also sought a takeover of the shrine by the state government. The HC accepted the plea and directed constitution of a panel to manage the temple.
The royal family challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court, which ordered an audit of the assets and a probe by the amicus curiae. After perusing the report, the SC directed the then CAG Vinod Rai to supervise a special audit of the temple's property.
The court also ordered the royal family not to meddle in the affairs of the temple till the audit got over.