The Kerala High Court on Friday slammed the police and the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) for providing “VIP darshan” to Malayalam actor Dileep at the Lord Ayyappa shrine in Sabarimala during the ongoing pilgrimage season, observing that it “hindered” darshan of many devotees who had stood in line for several hours.A bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and Muralee Krishna S questioned on what basis such privilege was given to the actor on December 5 and directed that the CCTV footage of the same be submitted in the court on Saturday.
The court also sought a report from the police explaining how the preferential treatment was given to Dileep.
The bench said that the actor stood in the front row before the Sopanam throughout the ‘Harivarasanam’ (lullaby to Lord Ayyappa) till the close of the temple for the day.