Justices R.V. Raveendran and A.K. Patnaik of the Supreme Court today appointed a 5-member experts committee to supervise the unearthing and preservation of the gold treasure found in the secret chambers of the Sree Anantha Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
The committee will be headed by the Director General of National Museum C.V. Ananda Bose and representatives of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
“The committee would submit its report to this court only,” ruled the bench of the apex court which asked the committee to take a decision on the opening of the sixth chamber which was sealed with a Nagabandham (snake protection).
The court also appointed another committee to oversee the work of unearthing of temple wealth. The members of the committee are retired judge of Kerala High Court, Justice M.N. Krishnan, the erstwhile Prince of Travancore Raja Marthanda Varma and a government representative of the rank of secretary. The court asked the media not to speculate on the value of the treasure.
Directing the newly constituted committees not to allow any unauthorized person during the unearthing of the treasure, it ordered the entire process to be photographed and video graphed.
