Sabarimala Ayyappa temple
Because the appointed assistant legal adviser had not yet assumed charge, kochi: The high court on Monday directed the authorities to expedite the process of obtaining prosecution sanction in the Sabarimala gold theft case after being informed that the final report could not be filed.
The bench also directed the SIT to complete the investigation into the second case, involving the alleged misappropriation of gold from the coverings of the dwarapalaka idols, before Nov 25 and adjourned the matter to Nov 10.
A bench of Justices V Raja Vijayaraghavan and K V Jayakumar issued the directive after SIT head S Sasidharan informed the court that, despite completing the investigation into one of the two cases — involving the alleged misappropriation of gold from the side frames of the sreekovil — the final report could not be filed before the jurisdictional court without prosecution sanction for offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Meanwhile, director general of prosecution T Asaf Ali assured the court that all necessary steps would be taken to ensure that the assistant legal adviser assumed charge and the requisite legal advice was obtained and incorporated into the proforma, enabling the matter to be placed before the competent authority for consideration of the prosecution sanction request. Accordingly, the court directed the authorities concerned to expedite the process, ensure that the requisite legal advice was obtained without delay, and place the prosecution sanction request before the competent authority. The SIT was also directed to ensure that the final report was submitted before the jurisdictional court without delay once sanction was obtained.