HC restrains Devaswom from issuing appointment letters

Kochi, Oct 16 (UNI) The Kerala High Court today restrained the the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) from issuing appointment letters to selected candidates, who had applied for the post of 'Melsanthis' at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple and the adjacent Malikappuram Devi temple.

A Division Bench of Justices P R Raman and T R Ramachandran Nair, however, made it clear that the TDB was free to proceed with the draw of lots for the appointment of 'Melsanthis' tomorrow.

The Court also directed the Vigilance Officer of the TDB to conduct a detailed inquiry and file a report directly to the Court in a sealed cover within two weeks regarding the allegations raised against some of the applicants who attended the interview.

The order was issued after perusing the interim report filed by Vigilance Officer M Sugathan who probed the allegations that some of the applicants had criminal antecedents and were ignorant of the 'Vedas' and 'Agamas.' The court would consider the case on October 23.

UNI XR MA RSA NS1936