Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) President K. Jayakumar on Tuesday admitted to the lapses on the part of the Board that led to the issues noted in the audit report on the income and expenditure accounts of the Global Ayyappa Meet. He said the errors occurred because officials failed to respond to the auditor’s queries in a timely manner and there was also a communication failure with the auditor. However, Jayakumar’s responses leave more questions than answers regarding how the Global Ayyappa Meet was conducted.
The controversy erupted after the Special Commissioner for Sabarimala, R. Jayakrishnan, flagged “serious discrepancies” and a lack of financial transparency in the conduct of the Global Ayyappa Sangamam held at Pamba on September 20, 2025, in his report to the Kerala High Court. The report noted that the Travancore Devaswom Board bypassed standard bidding procedures and failed to maintain proper oversight of the event’s multi-crore expenditure.
The Commissioner’s report stated that the TDB entrusted 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 report also noted that auditors were unable to verify actual expenses incurred by subcontractors because invoices lacked proper classification. Furthermore, agreements between IIIC and its subcontractors were not provided for audit.
Notably, as more details about the conduct of the Global Ayyappa Sangamam emerge, several decisions taken by the previous board under P.S. Prashant are under scanner. Jayakumar, who succeeded Prashant, revealed an unusual aspect of the expense side of the Global Ayyappa Meet. The board had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IIIC for Rs 8 crore, but later decided it would pay at most Rs 4.99 crore. IIIC, however, submitted a bill for Rs 7.04 crore as total expenditure, and Jayakumar now says the board will pay only the amount approved earlier.
Asked whether IIIC accepted this, he replied that it had no other option and added that he did not expect the company to approach the court.
For expenses other than accommodation at the meet held at Pampa on September 20, IIIC initially sought Rs 5.04 crore (excluding GST). The board approved Rs 3.69 crore and additionally allowed about 10 per cent (Rs 33.25 lakh) under “administration and facilitation charges”, taking the total to Rs 4.02 crore. Including GST of Rs 72.48 lakh, the amount came to Rs 4.75 crore. These figures were stated in a letter the Devaswom Commissioner sent on November 4 to the Special Commissioner appointed by the High Court. The same letter also said bills and vouchers had not been received from IIIC.
Along with Rs 4.75 crore, another Rs 24 lakh spent by the board on accommodation completes the Rs 4.99 crore approved amount Jayakumar mentioned.
However, in September itself IIIC submitted to the GST department an invoice of Rs 7.11 crore, calculated as Rs 6.02 crore expenditure plus 18 per cent GST. This was nearly Rs 1 crore more than what IIIC initially demanded from the board and about Rs 2 crore more than what the board approved.
According to a report prepared by a private auditor appointed by the Devaswom Board, based on documents available up to February 2, the contractor’s expenditure alone was shown as R 5.89 crore (excluding GST), Rs 1.86 crore higher than the approved amount. And, the board now says it will not approve any amount beyond the Rs 4.75 crore initially sanctioned.
A crucial question is why the board, which approved a higher amount in its MoU, is now saying it will pay only up to Rs 4.99 crore. This points to the expectations the TDB had regarding sponsorships and the actual sponsorships that materialised.
Jayakumar said that of the Rs 3 crore paid in advance by the board for the event, the amount has been returned to the account. Sponsorships expected from several sources did not materialise. Rs 1 crore promised by Adani is still expected, and total sponsorships are projected to reach Rs 3.85 crore, leaving a shortfall of about Rs 1 crore. However, no further board funds will be used for the event, according to Jayakumar.
Questions also arise as to why the TDB president believes the board’s decision not to pay the full invoice will not be legally challenged by IIIC.
Jayakumar said the audit report currently in the public domain should not be considered final and that many corrections are required. A revised audit report will be submitted by the TDB to the court on February 26. The board meeting held today discussed the report in detail. According to the TDB president, the erroneous audit report was submitted to the court because the court-mandated deadline had expired. The court will consider the matter again on February 27.
“Normally, auditors communicate identified issues to the Board and the Board responds; some replies are accepted and some rejected. This process did not occur this time. The problem was not with the auditor but with the Board,” he said.
Failure to reply promptly to queries and lack of proper communication led to certain adverse remarks appearing in the report, according to Jayakumar, who added that these would be rectified and many observations might change once proper replies are given.
“The board has decided to urgently correct the mistakes. A special team led by the Devaswom Commissioner has been formed to complete the process within 10 days. The team will hold discussions with the auditor and the contracting company. The previous Board had signed an MoU permitting expenditure up to Rs 8 crore. The contract was given to IIIC because it had prior experience conducting such programmes,” Jayakumar said.