In a scathing report submitted to the Kerala High Court, the Special Commissioner for Sabarimala, R. Jayakrishnan, has flagged “serious discrepancies” and a lack of financial transparency in the conduct of the Agola Ayyappa Sangamam held at Pamba on September 20, 2025.
Jointly organised by the Kerala government and the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), the event was part of the Board’s 75th anniversary celebrations. While the official position maintains that the programme was non-political, the Opposition at the time alleged that the ruling LDF was misusing state machinery and temple funds for electoral advantages through appeasement politics.
Interestingly, the recent report by the Sabarimala Special Commissioner suggests that the TDB bypassed standard bidding procedures and failed to maintain proper oversight of the event's multi-crore expenditure
The Commissioner’s report also reveals that the TDB entrusted the execution of the event to the Indian Institute of Infrastructure and Construction (IIIC)—managed by the Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society Limited—without any competitive bidding or tender process.
According to the report, the work was awarded on an "expenditure plus 10 per cent administrative charge" basis—a move the Commissioner described as "arbitrary and exorbitant".
The audit unearthed several other specific lapses that suggest a significant lack of accountability.
The report notes that auditors were unable to verify actual expenses incurred by subcontractors as invoices lacked proper classification. Furthermore, agreements between IIIC and its subcontractors were never provided for audit.
Invoices, records incomplete
Auditors also reported that invoices submitted by the IIIC and its subcontractors did not properly classify expenses under specific heads. As a result, the actual ledger-wise expenditure could not be verified solely from the invoices.
The auditors had to rely on a Joint Measurement Sheet and a Bill of Quantity prepared by the IIIC, but even these documents did not allow verification of actual expenses incurred by subcontractors. Agreements between IIIC and subcontractors were not produced for audit.
Accommodation bills and GST issues
Accommodation expenses of Rs 37.25 lakh were billed largely in the name of the State Protocol Officer, with a smaller portion billed to the TDB president. The invoices did not carry GST registration numbers, leading to the board not availing input tax credit.
The audit further observed that TDB is eligible for GST input tax credit of about Rs 1.07 crore connected with the event, though only Rs 45.76 lakh has so far appeared in statutory filings.
Separately, Rs 51.25 lakh was remitted from a Dhanalakshmi Bank account towards GST payment related to advertisement revenue. However, the treatment of the input tax credit and its adjustment against the board’s general fund remains unclear.
Quantity and billing discrepancies
The report records several inconsistencies between quantities recorded and items certified:
15 centre tables were shown in the Bill of Quantity, but only four were certified in the measurement sheet, which also carried a note stating that an additional 15 were provided—without justification.
Electrical cabling works worth Rs 2.8 lakh were not certified in the measurement sheet. 50 beds costing Rs 1.73 lakh were also not reflected in measurement records. Extra items amounting to Rs 24.17 lakh, listed in the Bill of Quantity, were missing from the measurement sheet.
The reported also pointed towards discrepancies between invoices submitted by a subcontractor, the Kerala Arts and Craft Village, and the base verification documents.
Missing, inflated details
The audit states that sponsorship income of Rs 2 crore was not detailed in the submitted report. The TDB’s general fund advance of Rs 2 crore for the event has also not been recouped. Under cultural programmes, expenditure was shown as Rs 8 lakh, against a scheduled allocation of Rs 2 lakh.
Reaction from key organiser
Meanwhile, former TDB president P.S. Prashant came with the arguments that there was an effort to spread misinformation regarding the organisational expenses of the Ayyappa Sangamam.
“So far, only three crore rupees have been spent for organising the Ayyappa Sangamam. This entire amount was received purely through sponsorship. An additional one crore rupees has also been received as sponsorship,” he noted.
Prashant also claimed that an advance of three crore rupees had earlier been taken for the organisation under the head 'Religious conferences and discourses', and as soon as the sponsorship amount was received, this advance was fully repaid on October 17, 2025.
“Apart from this, not even a single rupee has been spent from the Devaswom Board funds so far,” he wrote on his social profile.
“Regarding the total expenditure, the amount mentioned by the Devaswom Commissioner in the interim report submitted before the court on November 4, 2025, was Rs 4.5 crore, plus GST. Therefore, on what basis the present report has been issued needs to be examined,” he added.