The Supreme Court on Thursday slammed Kerala for not approaching it for suitable directions even after the state home department issued an adverse report against the executive officer of the Padmanabhawamy temple, V.K. Hari Kumar, a member of the expert committee inventorying the temple treasure.
Meanwhile, the SC bench of Justices R.M. Lodha and A.K. Patnaik appointed senior counsel and former solicitor general Gopal Subramanium as amicus curiae to assist the expert committee in the cases relating to the temple treasure.
The court observed it was improper for the state government to submit the home department’s adverse report against Mr Hari Kumar to the expert committee. It said the government’s action would lead to politicking and twisting of facts.
“Your home department report says he is a man of serious antecedents. It is not fair on your part. If they had any problem, they should have made an application to us,” the court told the state’s standing counsel.
It directed the state to file a fresh application on the matter of Mr Vijayakumar, who has not yet received the entry pass to the temple’s vaults since he did not get security clearance from the home department.
Meanwhile, the counsel for the royal family, K.K. Venugopal, sought directions from the court to issue entry passes to Mr Vijayakumar and eight others.
The supreme court has listed the Padmanabha-wamy temple case for hearing on September 19.