Kochi, 05 March (H.S.): The Kerala High Court on Thursday sharply criticised the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) over alleged discrepancies in the financial accounts related to the Global Ayyappa Meet, observing that the records submitted so far lacked clarity and consistency.

During the hearing, the court noted that the financial statements provided by the Devaswom Board contained inconsistencies, raising concerns about the transparency of expenditure incurred for the event. The auditor appointed to examine the accounts informed the court that several crucial documents sought from the Devaswom Board had not been furnished despite repeated requests.

The auditor, Vijayan Associates, told the court that essential records, including the asset register required for verifying input tax claims, were not provided by the board. According to the audit firm, multiple letters had been sent to the Devaswom Board seeking these documents, but there had been no response.

The court expressed concern that the absence of such records made it difficult to conduct a proper audit and verify the financial details related to the large-scale religious event. The Global Ayyappa Meet had featured multiple programmes and activities, but the accounts submitted to the auditor reportedly contained consolidated figures instead of separate expenditure details for each event.

As a result, the auditor informed the court that it was extremely difficult to determine how much money had been spent on individual programmes conducted during the event.

Taking note of the situation, the High Court granted the auditor 10 days to examine the available materials and suggest possible corrective measures to address the issues in the accounting process.

The court also observed that the current leadership of the Travancore Devaswom Board appeared to have treated the financial records with undue casualness. According to the proceedings, the audit report had been submitted to the board on February 6 and was forwarded by the Devaswom Commissioner to the Special Commissioner the very next day.

However, the court noted that the Devaswom Commissioner had not conducted a proper examination of the audit report to identify the deficiencies highlighted in it.

Earlier, the High Court had made it clear that the Travancore Devaswom Board would be held accountable if any financial irregularities were found in the accounts related to the Global Ayyappa Meet. The court had also impleaded the auditor as a party in the case and directed that all documents submitted by the Devaswom Board be produced before the court for scrutiny.

The matter will be taken up again after the auditor submits further recommendations regarding the discrepancies in the accounts.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman