Ex-TDB Chief Among 3 Booked in Sabarimala Ghee Irregularities Case

Former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president PS Prasanth faces new allegations of financial impropriety, this time involving the procurement of ghee for the Sabarimala temple. The Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) has booked Prasanth, along with former TDB member A Ajikumar and former administrative officer Murari Babu, over irregularities in the supply of Milma ghee.

This development follows a directive from a Kerala high court division bench, which ordered the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) after reports from the Sabarimala Special Commissioner and the TDB's chief vigilance officer flagged concerns. These reports highlighted the alleged bypassing of standard tender procedures and questioned the quality of the ghee supplied for preparing aravana payasam, a key temple offering.

According to the vigilance officer's submission to the court, TDB officials allegedly abandoned an e-tender process to favor Milma, the state milk cooperative. This decision was reportedly based on a recommendation that Milma's ghee was of superior quality and would require a lower quantity. However, the lowest bidder in the e-tender had quoted a significantly lower price of ₹369 per litre for the same quality, suggesting a potential loss of ₹2.27 crore for the TDB.

Further complicating matters, the Special Commissioner's report raised doubts about whether the entire 1.65 lakh litres of ghee ordered actually reached the temple, hinting at possible misappropriation. Discrepancies in procurement, transportation, and accounting records were noted. Meanwhile, Milma chairman KS Mani has defended the quality of the ghee supplied, stating it was genuine and premium, packed in sealed tins to prevent tampering, and welcomed a probe into the matter. Prasanth and Ajikumar are already in custody in a separate case involving alleged gold theft from Sabarimala assets.

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Genuine, premium-quality ghee was dispatched from Milma to Sabarimala, packed in sealed 15 kg tins, making in-transit alteration or tampering impossible.