SC nod to dispose of unused aravana stock at Sabarimala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Supreme Court on Friday granted permission to the Travancore Devaswom Board to dispose of the unused stocks of aravana at Sabarimala. TNIE had recently reported on TDB’s dilemma to dispose of a stock of six lakh tins of aravana worth `6 crore. The Supreme Court directed both the Board and the state government to take a concerted call on the method and place of disposal. The directive was issued on a petition filed by the Board. The aravana stock piled up at Sabarimala after the Kerala High Court prohibited its sale due to the presence of pesticides beyond the permissible limit in the cardamom used in the making of aravana. The national laboratory assigned by the Supreme Court, however, found the aravana safe to eat. But by then, the aravana had already turned stale. An SC Bench comprising Justices A S Bopanna and P S Narasimha reportedly raised apprehensions about the High Court’s restriction of the sale of aravana.