Who will control Padmanabha Swamy Temple? SC to decide today

New Delhi, July 13: The Supreme Court will today pronounce its verdict in the Padmanabha Swamy temple case. The verdict would decide on whether the control over the Temple will vest with the State or the Travancore royal family.

The case has been heard for over nine years. In 2011, the Kerala High Court ruled that the government would have control over the Temple in Kerala. It had said that the government should take over the control of the Temple from a trust that is headed by the royal family.

It may be recalled that in 2011, the Supreme Court had ordered a detailed inventory of the articles in the Temple vaults, which had long rumoured to be holding immense riches.

The verdict would be delivered by a Bench comprising, Justices, U U Lalit and Indu Malhotra at 10.30 am.

It was estimated that the intrinsic value of the treasure in the Temple vaults were more than Rs 90,000 crore. One of the vaults, Kallara B could not be opened and the same was kept in abeyance by the Supreme Court.

In 2009, T P Sundarrajan, a former IPS officer had filed a petition before the Kerala High Court praying that the control of the Temple should be handed over to the Kerala Government from the royal family.

The legal dispute lies in the agreement signed between the Kings of Travancore and the Government of India in 1949 by which the princely state of Travancore became part of the Indian Union.

Article VII of the agreement provided that the administration of the Padmanabha Swamy Temple shall be conducted subject to the control and supervision of the ruler of Travancore, by an executive officer appointed by the ruler.