In the Sabarimala temple gold theft case, the Kerala High Court on Wednesday (February 4, 2026) said that the SIT investigation is progressing well and at present there is no need to transfer the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The court said these things when it was hearing a group of petitions, which included a petition by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Rajeev Chandrashekhar, in which a demand was made to hand over the investigation to the CBI.
According to court sources, the bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice KV Jayakumar said it was aware of the work of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), PTI said. These comments will come as a blow to the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), which is claiming that the Chief Minister’s Office was interfering and putting pressure on the SIT, which led to the delay in filing the charge sheet.
The UDF is protesting in the state assembly on this issue and disrupted the functioning of the house on Tuesday and Wednesday. Meanwhile, the court adopted a positive stance regarding the investigation and supported the ruling Left Democratic Front’s claim that the investigation is progressing smoothly. According to sources, the bench also said that the SIT is a good unit with competent officers and they will not demoralize them by raising questions on their work.
The court also said that it is actively monitoring the investigation and is aware of all the facts revealed by the SIT. The SIT is investigating two cases related to the alleged theft of gold from the idols of the Dvarapala (guardian deity) and the doors of the Srikovil (sanctum sanctorum) of the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala.
So far 12 arrests have been made in these cases and three of the arrested accused have been released on statutory bail due to delay in filing the charge sheet within the stipulated 90 days. Key accused Unnikrishnan Potti has also been granted statutory bail in both the cases and is expected to be released after submitting the bail bond.
