Kochi

The Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed a petition moved by the CEO of Chennai-based Smart Creations, where the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols of Sabarimala were taken for gold plating, challenging his arrest in the case of alleged misappropriation of gold from the Lord Ayyappa shrine.

Justice A Badharudeen rejected the plea of Smart Creations CEO Pankaj Bhandari, who had claimed that his arrest was illegal as the mandatory requirements, including intimation of the arrest and communication of its grounds to him, were not complied with.

The prosecution had opposed the plea, claiming that the mandatory requirements were complied with and Bhandari's contentions were baseless.

Rejecting the petitioner's contentions, the High Court said the only anomaly that could be seen in the steps adopted by the arresting officer was that he failed to produce Bhandari before the special vigilance court at Kollam in time.

The High Court said that there was a delay in producing him before the special court due to the time taken for medical examination and for travelling 71 kms from Thiruvananthapuram to Kollam.

"I do not think that the same by itself is a reason to declare the arrest as illegal. Therefore, for the said reason also, the prayer in the petition to declare the arrest as illegal cannot be granted.

"Thus, in the instant case, the non-compliance argued by the senior counsel for the petitioner (Bhandari) is not found sufficient to declare the arrest as illegal, and in consequence thereof, this petition would necessarily fail. In the result, this Writ Petition (Criminal) is dismissed," Justice Badharudeen said.

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The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged misappropriation of gold from the Dwarapalaka idols and the door frames of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) has claimed that Bhandari and Ballari-based jeweller Govardhan Roddam played a central role in a conspiracy to steal gold from artefacts of the Sabarimala temple.

The SIT had alleged that Bhandari and Roddam, along with first accused Unnikrishnan Potty, planned the theft of gold that was entrusted to them for electroplating work.