The bench noted that the donated properties worth Rs 40 crore paled against the scam’s estimated scale of Rs 100 crore.
Published Sep 21, 2025 | 11:59 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 21, 2025 | 12:46 PM
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam
Synopsis: The Andhra Pradesh High Court suspended a 2023 Lok Adalat settlement involving a Rs 100 crore Parakamani scam at Tirumala temple. The court ordered a CID probe into the theft of devotees’ offerings, seizing related records for a sealed report by 13 October 2025. The case, exposing systemic flaws, implicates former YSRCP officials, sparking political controversy.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday, 19 September, suspended a 2023 Lok Adalat settlement and entrusted the investigation into the Parakamani scam to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
The court ordered seizure of all related records and directed that a sealed report be submitted by 13 October. The case pertains to a Rs 100 crore misappropriation racket that allegedly operated when the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) was in power.
The Parakamani process, a sacred ritual at the Tirumala temple where devotees’ offerings of cash, gold, and valuables from the Srivari Hundi are meticulously counted and segregated, has been under CCTV surveillance since 2012. It involves hundreds of TTD staff, bank officials, and volunteers who account for the offerings made to the Trust.
However, the 2023 incident exposed vulnerabilities, sparking accusations of systemic defects in bringing the guilty to book.
The case dates back to 19 April 2023, when CV Ravi Kumar, a representative of a trust and one of the Parakamani volunteers, was apprehended by security personnel during routine frisking.
Kumar was caught concealing foreign currency—initially estimated at around USD 11,300 (Rs 9 lakh)—in his undergarments. Yet, the FIR at Tirumala One Town police station recorded only USD 900 (Rs 72,000).
Investigations revealed that Kumar had allegedly stolen multiple times over several years, amassing immovable properties worth up to Rs 100 crore in Tirupati and Chennai through illicit gains from foreign currency donations.
On 19 May 2023, weeks after his arrest, Kumar and his wife, “out of pure devotion,” donated seven properties valued at RS 40 crore to TTD. A charge sheet followed on 30 May 2023, filed before the Second Additional Judicial Magistrate Court in Tirupati.
But by 9 September 2023, the case took a controversial turn: Kumar and Assistant Vigilance and Security Officer (AVSO) Y Satish Kumar, who had frisked him, struck a compromise at the Tirupati Lok Adalat. The settlement quashed charges against Kumar without conviction, ostensibly in exchange for the donated assets.
Satish Kumar later confessed in a TTD Vigilance report that the accord was forged under “extreme pressure” from higher-ups in the police department.
The closure of the case drew sharp scrutiny, especially since TTD, as custodian of Lord Venkateswara’s wealth, is said to have lacked authority to pursue such settlements via Lok Adalat. A TTD Vigilance report dated 26 December 2024 corroborated the coercion behind the compromise.
The High Court intervened after a writ petition was filed by M Sreenivasulu, a local resident, challenging the validity of the settlement. On 20 September 2025, a division bench—suo motu impleading the Inspector General of Police (CB-CID) as respondent— suspended the Lok Adalat award.
The bench noted that the donated properties worth Rs 40 crore paled against the scam’s estimated scale of Rs 100 crore and denounced the pressure tactics revealed in the Vigilance report.
“TTD cannot act arbitrarily as a mere custodian,” the order emphasised, directing CB-CID to probe the theft, the compromise, and the extent of the conspiracy.
Specific directives included immediate seizure of records from Tirumala One Town police station, TTD Board resolutions, Vigilance proceedings, and Lok Adalat bench documents.
These must be submitted in a sealed cover for the next hearing on 13 October 2025. The court also observed that reopening the case could expose “hidden stakeholders,” upholding charges under IPC Sections 379 (theft) and 409 (criminal breach of trust).
TTD board members hailed the verdict as a triumph for transparency. TTD Trust Board member and BJP spokesperson G. Bhanu Prakash Reddy and TTD ex-officio member C Divakar Reddy released CCTV footage on Saturday purportedly capturing the theft, questioning the FIR’s understated recovery.
“How come the amount shown is much less than what was actually seized?” Reddy asked. Divakar Reddy, also TUDA Chairman, slammed the settlement: “I do not understand who authorised TTD to approach Lok Adalat and strike a deal. The property returned to the Trust is only ₹40 crore, while the loot is about ₹100 crore.”
Political ripples were immediate. IT and HRD Minister Nara Lokesh, linking the scam to YSRCP, came down heavily on the previous regime. In a message on X, he wrote: “The Jagan gang, which plundered mines, lands, forests, and every resource while exploiting the people, spared nothing—not even the sacred wealth of Tirumala’s Lord Venkateswara. With the blessings of Tadepalli Palace and the support of then-TTD Chairman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy, the burglars infiltrated the Parakamani process, looting crores of rupees. This stolen wealth was funneled into real estate investments. Accused individuals themselves admit that the spoils were shared from Bhumana in Tirupati to Tadepalli Palace.”
Lokesh further warned: “The Lord of the Seven Hills is an immensely powerful deity. Jagan and Bhumana, fully aware of the consequences of defiling His sanctity, still dared to plunder the Parakamani. Their sins have now come to fruition.”
The YSRCP, now in Opposition, dismissed the allegations as “vendetta politics,” with former TTD Chairman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy—accused of complicity— vowing legal recourse.
In a statement on Saturday, 20 September, he condemned attempts by Chandrababu Naidu and Nara Lokesh to “misuse the sacred Tirumala temple for political interests.”
He said: “It has become a habit for both Naidu and Lokesh to resort to lies and malicious propaganda in the name of Lord Venkateswara. Referring to the Parakamani issue, he said on 29 April 2023, TTD Vigilance staff caught C.V. Ravi Kumar red-handed for stealing U.S. dollar notes from the Srivari Hundi, valued at around Rs 72,000. This incident was detected and acted upon during our YSRCP government itself. How can anyone accuse us of wrongdoing when it was under our tenure that the theft was exposed and action was taken?”
He further argued that during investigation, Ravi Kumar admitted committing thefts multiple times over two decades, including during Chandrababu Naidu’s earlier rule, when no action was taken.
“Ravi Kumar, who was working at the Pedda Jeeyangar Mutt and serving as a Parakamani clerk, was handed over to Law & Order police. He confessed and, as an act of repentance, offered to gift his properties to Lord Venkateswara. A charge sheet was filed in May 2023, and in June 2023, Ravi Kumar and his family transferred assets to TTD as donation. The TTD Board passed a resolution, and the matter was legally settled through Lok Adalat in July 2023. This entire process was handled transparently, lawfully, and in accordance with dharma,” Reddy asserted.
(Edited by Amit Vasudev)
