VIP treatment to actor Dileep blocked other pilgrims' darshan at Sabarimala: Kerala High Court

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Thursday termed as "very very serious" the "VIP darshan" provided to actor Dileep at the Lord Ayyappa shrine in Sabarimala recently and said that it resulted in pilgrims being "virtually blocked" from getting darshan of the deity for several minutes.

A bench of Justices Anil K Narendra and Muralee Krishna S said it was "not a question of two minutes" when the first two rows in front of the 'Sopanam' were "choked" for several minutes to allow the actor to get darshan.

"What is the privilege such persons are having?" the court asked and directed the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) and the Chief Police Coordinator to ensure such things do not happen in future.

The observations and direction of the bench came after perusing the CCTV footage of the incident which occurred on December 5 and the video was also shown in the open court.

"From the CCTV footage, we notice the movement of the pilgrims through the first row in front of the Sopanam was blocked from the southern side by the Devaswom guard on duty at around 10.58 pm. Film actor Dileep entered the first row of the Sopanam from the southern side by 10.58 pm and remained there till 11:05:45 pm.

"It is evident from the video, that movement of pilgrims in the first row from the northern side was blocked by another Devaswom guard by 10.51 pm," the court noted.

The TDB told the bench that it had already issued a show cause notice to the officers, including the two guards, responsible for regulating the movement of the pilgrims in front of the Sopanam.

The Board's response came after the court asked what action was taken in connection with the incident.

After considering the arguments, the bench said, "we deem it appropriate to direct the Travancore Devaswom Board and the Chief Police Coordinator to take necessary steps to ensure such privileges for remaining in front of the Sopanam of Sabarimala Sannidhanam for a considerably long time by blocking darshan of pilgrims was not extended to any pilgrim." The court directed the TDB and Chief Police Coordinator to ensure that "such things are not repeated at Sabarimala Sannidhanam" in future.

"The further course of action to be taken shall be decided after filing of the reports by the Chief Police Coordinator and the secretary of the Board," the bench said and listed the matter for hearing on Friday.

The court on last Friday slammed the police and TDB for providing "VIP darshan" to Dileep at the Lord Ayyappa shrine during the ongoing pilgrimage season, observing that it "hindered" darshan of many devotees who had stood in line for several hours.

It had directed that the CCTV footage of the same be submitted in the court.

The bench had said that the actor stood in the first row before the Sopanam throughout the 'Harivarasanam' (lullaby to Lord Ayyappa) till the close of the temple for the day.

The court took up the issue on its own based on news reports of the "special VIP darshan" given to Dileep at Sabarimala on December 5 during the ongoing annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage when there is a massive rush of devotees to the shrine each day from Kerala and its neighbouring states.