Kochi, Feb 5 (IANS) The Kerala High Court on Wednesday allowed an affidavit filed by the state Audit Department highlighting financial irregularities in the Guruvayur Devaswom’s accounts, pointing to improper accounting of receipts and expenditures by temple authorities.
Guruvayur Devasom is the custodian of the famed Sree Krishna Temple, one of the most crowded in Kerala, at Guruvayur in Thrissur district.
A division bench of Justices Anil K. Narendran and S. Muralee Krishna noted that the affidavit contained serious allegations of mismanagement of financial accounts by the Guruvayur Devaswom Managing Committee.
The audit report was filed in response to a petition filed by Dr PS Mahendra Kumar who wanted the court to direct the Devaswom to disclose details of its deposits in co-operative societies, citing concerns over financial mismanagement and recent banking scams in Thrissur.
The affidavit, submitted to the court, outlined multiple financial irregularities, mismanagement of temple funds and lapses in cyber security protocols, raising serious concerns about the administration of the temples under the Guruvayur Devaswom Board.
It was pointed out that the temple superintendent, manager and deputy administrator failed to ensure that the collected funds were correctly deposited.
The report pointed out that as of October 5, 2023, the Devaswom had fixed deposits worth Rs 1,975.90 crore across various nationalised banks, scheduled banks and cooperative urban banks.
Another major concern raised in the affidavit was the installation of CCTV cameras under the Central government’s PRASAD scheme.
The project, entrusted to Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society Ltd (ULCCS), cost over Rs 5 crore, but it was pointed out that defects in the CCTV system were identified during the defect liability period, yet they were not rectified by the contractor and the Devasom had to spend an additional R s4.05 lakh to replace defective equipment, including UPS batteries.
It has also been pointed out that despite repeated demands, the CCTV system is not working to its full capacity and causing serious security concerns for the temple.
–IANS
sg/vd
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
