Supreme Court to pronounce verdict in Padmanabhaswamy temple custody case on Monday

In a major development, the Supreme Court is set to pronounce the final verdict in the Padmanabhan Swamy Temple case on Monday, as per sources. The case surrounds the opening of the temple's 'Vault B' after the apex court had stayed the state from taking over the temple's assets in 2011. The 9-year-old case will decide if the control and management lie with the erstwhile royal family of Travancore or the Kerala government should form a Devaswom board to manage the temple and its assets.

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What is the Padmanabha Swamy temple case?

While the case of ownership of the temple and its assets has been in courts since 2007, in 2010, the Kerala High Court ordered that a board be constituted to manage the temple, which was then stayed by the Supreme Court, as per reports. Since then five of the six vaults of the temple have been opened with an expert committee recording the inventory. The temple claimed the national spotlight when a huge amount of gold, silver, diamonds, and other precious stones cast into idols, coins, ornaments, and vessels, were found from these five vaults.

But the sixth and the final vault has not yet been opened as the royal family claimed that there was reportedly a curse associated with it. Historians have estimated that the final vault 'B' contains the large treasures that the temple collected during the rule of the Travancore king, as per reports. The notion of the royal family was challenged in the Supreme Court by the Supreme Court-appointed lawyer - Gopal Subramaniam and then- Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai, claiming that the vault had been opened once in 1990 and twice in 2002, state reports.

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Tussle between Kerala govt & Travancore royals

As per historical records, when the Princely States of Travancore and Cochin were merged in 1949, the control and management of all temples under it went to the Travancore and Cochin Devaswom Boards - which were managed by the Kerala government. However, reports state that as per the Agreement of Accession between Travancore and Cochin, the administration of the Padmanabha Swamy Temple was vested in Travancore's last King Sree Chithira Thirunal. After Thirunal's passing in 1991, his brother - Utradam Thirunal Marthanda Varma has become the custodian of this temple.

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