Ayyappa Meet Audit Row Escalates in Kerala as TDB Denies Irregularities, Opposition Seeks Criminal Case

Overview

• Two days after the Kerala High Court flagged serious inconsistencies in the Global Ayyappa Sangamam audit, the court sought explanations from the Travancore Devaswom Board and the State Audit Department.
• The TDB called media reports baseless, denied any purchase of a cot for the Chief Minister, and detailed finances including a ₹5 crore budget allocation, a ₹3 crore advance to IIIC, and roughly ₹3 crore in sponsorships credited back.
• The Board said the audit’s reference to paying ‘Nandagovindam Bhajans’ was a documentation error by the event agency and that the payment was made to musician Ishaan Dev’s team.
• Leader of the Opposition V. D. Satheesan alleged a multi-crore fraud and cited gaps such as no tenders for works, unverified cabling bills, missing beds from an inventory of 180, GST issues, and sponsorship receipts without proper records.
• KPCC president Sunny Joseph sought criminal cases against the Devaswom Minister and TDB, while Minister V. N. Vasavan insisted his ₹3 crore repayment claim rests on official records and the Board set a February 17 meeting to review the matter.