Sabarimala Gold Theft: Smart Creations CEO Pankaj Bhandari Moves Supreme Court Against Arrest

Pankaj Bhandari, the CEO of Smart Creations, Chennai has approached the Supreme Court of India challenging his arrest in connection with the case related to the alleged misappropriation of gold from the Sabarimala temple. The Dwarapalaka idols of Sabarimala were taken to Smart Creations for gold plating. Bhandari was arrested on December 19, 2025.

Bhandari has filed a Special Leave Petition challenging the Kerala High Court's decision from February 12, 2026 dismissing his plea. The SLP was taken up today by a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and SC Sharma which has directed the plea be listed on March 19, 2026.

The arrest has been challenged by Bhandari as the grounds of arrest were not provided to any of his relative or family member. The remand application being in vernacular and language unknown to arrestee was also not provided during the remand proceedings, Supreme Court has been told.

Notably, in October last year in a major development surrounding the missing gold controversy at the Sabarimala temple, the Kerala High Court had directed formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe alleged discrepancies in the weight of gold-clad plates adorning the dwarapalaka (guardian) idols.

The Special Investigation Team's probe shows that Dwarapalaka plates as well as on the door frames of the Sabarimala Sreekovil, which had originally been gold-cladded were taken away with a view to misappropriate the gold therefrom.

In both crimes, the prosecution has alleged commission of offences punishable under Sections 403, 406, 409, 466, 467 and 120B r/w 34 of the Indian Penal Code and under Section 13(1)(a) r/w 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 by Bhandari.

Kerala High Court's Justice A Badhurdeen observed in the impugned judgment that the grounds of arrest were communicated in the language (English) known to the accused Bhandari. Therefore, non-supply of the remand report again to inform the grounds of arrest to the accused was not necessary. The only anomaly that could be seen from the proceedings adopted by the arresting officer was that Bhandari was produced before the Special Court after a delay of about two hours, which the High Court noted was due to the time taken for medical examination and travelling from Thiruvananthapuram to Kollam (71 km).

In October 2025, high court had directed that the SIT be led by Superintendent of Police S. Sasidharan, answerable to the court, and the inquiry should be conducted in confidentiality. The direction came after the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) Vigilance team submitted an interim report of its preliminary probe into the matter.

The proceedings were triggered by revelations that the gold cladding of the Dwarapalaka idols and their Peedams had been removed without the knowledge of the Special Commissioner. Investigations showed that the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) had, in violation of its own procedures, handed over the gold coverings directly to a private individual, Mr. Unnikrishnan Potty (7th respondent), in 2019. According to the Sub-Group Manual, such repairs were to be carried out strictly within the Sannidhanam premises.

In 2019, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) authorised the removal of the gold-plated copper sheets and pedestals (peedams) from the Dwarapalaka idols at Sabarimala for refurbishment work entrusted to a Chennai-based firm, Smart Creations. According to the official mahazar prepared on July 19, 2019, the 12 copper plates together weighed 25.400 kg, while the pedestals were recorded at 17.400 kg, bringing the total weight to 42.800 kg. However, upon reaching Chennai on August 29, 2019, the same items were found to weigh only 38.258 kg and 100 mg, showing a shortfall of 4.541 kg compared to the initial measurement. Compounding the irregularities, officials failed to record the weight of the idols and Peedams during reinstallation in September 2019. Moreover, no registers were maintained to record the quantity of gold used, and no systematic account of cladding material existed.

Records established that the idols were first gold-plated in 1999 with the Board’s sanction. Photographic evidence from 2013 confirmed that the idols, Peedams, and staircases were fully gold-cladded. Yet, the High Court found glaring lapses in documentation. The Vigilance Officer’s search operations on September 27, 2025, in a raid at the residence of Mini, sister of Mr. Potty, led to the recovery of gold-plated Peedams concealed in a sealed cover. Court noted that Mr. Potty had failed to disclose possession of these Peedams in his affidavit, describing the concealment as a sensational and shocking development.

The High Court expressed dismay at the “casual and negligent” approach of the TDB in handling sacred temple wealth and pointed out systemic failures in maintaining records.

Case Title: Pankaj Bhandari vs. State of Kerala

Bench: Justices Datta and Sharma

Hearing Date: February 24, 2026