Kerala: Padmanabha Swamy Temple Trust Should Face Audit In Three Months, Says Supreme Court

Earlier, the trust said that it cannot be included in audit since the trust was constituted to oversee the poojas and rituals of the Temple involving the family and it has no role in administration

Chennai: Thiruvananthapuram's Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple Trust will have to undergo an audit of income and expenses for the past 25 years, ruled the Supreme Court of India on Wednesday. The Court gave the ruling while hearing  a plea moved by the former Travancore royal family, the Padmanabha Swamy Temple trust seeking exemption from the audit ordered by the Court last year. However, the court directed the temple and trust to undergo an audit and rejected the plea on Wednesday. 

According to an update by ANI, the Supreme Court said, the audit ordered by the Court last year was not confined only to the temple but the trust as well and the Court fixed a deadline for the audit preferably within the next 3 months.

The case was heard by a three-member bench of Justice UU Lalit, Justice SR Bhat and Justice Bela M Trivedi. 

Earlier, the trust said that it cannot be included in the audit since the trust was constituted to oversee the poojas and rituals of the Temple involving the family and it has no role in the administration, said a report by NDTV.

However, the temple's administrative committee said that the temple was under financial stress due to the poor donations and collections in the wake of the pandemic and the trust did not attend to the financial stress. It also said that the temple was getting only Rs 60-70 lakh and needed contributions from the trust and claimed that the trust has Rs 2.8 crore cash and assets worth Rs 1.9 crore.  Following this, the Court rejected the plea.

In 2020, the Supreme Court handed over the administration of the temple to a committee. The Court also ordered an audit of the income and expenses of the past 25 years.