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SC sets up 2 panels for Kerala temple treasure
R Sedhuraman
Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, July 21
The Supreme Court today appointed two committees for documenting and preserving the huge treasure found at the Padmanabhaswami Temple at Thiruvananthapuram.A five-member expert committee headed by Director General of National Museum CV Ananda Bose will take care of the documentation and preservation work, while a three-member panel will oversee the entire exercise.

A Bench comprising Justices RV Raveendran and AK Patnaik passed the order on a petition filed by the erstwhile prince of Trivancore, Marthanda Varma, challenging the Kerala High Court order for the take-over of the temple management by the state government.

The apex court said no unauthorised person would be allowed to be present while documenting the valuables found in the temple vaults and that the committees would report only to the Supreme Court Bench and none else.

In the five-point order, the Bench also advised the media to restrain itself from speculative reporting on the treasure, especially its value. Reports suggesting that the findings were worth over Rs 1.5 lakh crore had attracted international attention which posed a security threat, the court pointed out.