Files on Sabarimala Women’s Entry Case Missing from TDB Headquarters
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Files related to the Sabarimala women’s entry issue have reportedly gone missing from the headquarters of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB). The disappearance came to light when officials searched for old files while preparing to submit an affidavit in the Supreme Court recently. The files were found to be missing under mysterious circumstances.
The board has now sought copies of the case documents from the lawyers who handled the matter earlier.
It is notable that the case records related to women’s entry at Sabarimala are missing from the TDB headquarters, which often asserts that it stands for protecting temple traditions and devotees’ beliefs. The board began looking for the old litigation records when the need arose to clarify its stand before the Supreme Court on the issue.
The discovery that even copies of the case documents were unavailable reportedly surprised TDB president K. Jayakumar and other board members. Officials said they were unaware of what happened to the records.
In 2007, the V.S. Achuthanandan government had taken the stand in the Supreme Court that women’s entry to Sabarimala could be allowed. Later, in 2016, the Oommen Chandy government and the Devaswom Board headed by president Prayar Gopalakrishnan filed an affidavit opposing the entry of women.
However, in November 2016, the Pinarayi Vijayan government submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court supporting women’s entry to the temple.
The Travancore Devaswom Board had not submitted a separate affidavit at the time. The fact that even copies of these documents are missing from the board headquarters has raised serious questions. The board is now preparing to collect copies of the documents from the lawyers who handled the cases related to the women’s entry issue in the Supreme Court.