The Kerala High Court on Tuesday expressed concern at the ‘delay’ by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in filing the chargesheet in the case of alleged misappropriation of gold from the Sabarimala temple and cited how this could lead to persons who had been arraigned as accused in the case getting statutory bail (on expiry of the 90-day remand term).
A Bench of Justice A. Badharudeen made the observation, while hearing a plea by Pankaj Bhandari, CEO of Chennai-based Smart Creations, who challenged his arrest in the case by citing procedural omissions while recording his arrest.
The court reminded that identifying the accused persons and timely filing of the chargesheet against them were very important. Else, members of the public would get suspicious about the probe. The court particularly referred to the release of Murari Babu – former executive officer of Sabarimala – on statutory bail.
Published – January 28, 2026 12:13 am IST
