Sabarimala row: Did TDB ignore change of name in warranty?

KOCHI: The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) maintains that it was forced to depend on Unnikrishnan Potti to re-plate the dwarapalaka idols in 2025 as Smart Creations, Chennai, had issued the warranty in the name of the sponsor in 2019. Experts have contested the claim, pointing out how the Devaswom Board can accept a warranty issued in the name of a sponsor for a property it owned. Records accessed by TNIE reveal that the same Smart Creations had issued a warranty in the name of the TDB secretary in March 2019 for the gold plating of the doors of the Sabarimala sreekovil. As the order to gold plate the dwarapalaka idols was a continuation of the previous order, there is little chance of changing the name in the warranty document. Even if the company changed the warranty on the insistence of Potti, the TDB should have demanded a change of name, an official said. The moolasthana front door of the temple, gold plated with 7 grams per sq feet, carries a warranty of 35 years for 24-carat gold plating and lacquering while the moolasthana back door, done with 3 grams per sq feet, carries a warranty of 15 years from March 4, 2019, said the warranty document for the doors, signed by Smart Creations managing director Pankaj Bhandari. The document said that 80 to 90% of the 24-carat gold used for plating can be recovered. TDB president P S Prasanth told TNIE that the warranty was issued in the name of Unnikrishnan Potti and that the board has initiated steps to cancel the document. He said the TDB suspects the involvement of a few retired officers and a decision will be taken after receiving the investigation report of the vigilance officer. The vigilance officer will be submitting the report before the High Court on October 10.