State dairy cooperative Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF), popularly known as Milma, on Monday flatly rejected any involvement in the alleged ghee supply irregularities at the Sabarimala temple in Kerala, while raising pointed questions about how the suspected tampering could have remained undetected at established inspection checkpoints. The denial marks a fresh escalation in a controversy that has already rattled temple administration circles.

Milma's Categorical Denial

Milma Chairman K.S. Mani dismissed reports linking the cooperative to the alleged ghee scam as baseless. He asserted that every batch of ghee dispatched to Sabarimala was first tested at the state laboratory and cleared only after meeting prescribed quality standards. According to Mani, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) had never formally communicated to Milma that its ghee was found to be substandard.

Mani maintained that if any irregularity had indeed occurred, Milma bore no responsibility for it. He also raised the possibility that outside traders could have been involved in the alleged adulteration and warned that strict legal action would be initiated if Milma's name, logo, or emblem had been misused by any party.

Questions Over Transit and Inspection Failures

The Milma chairman directed sharp questions at the circumstances surrounding the alleged tampering. He asked why any replacement of ghee during transit from Pathanamthitta to Sabarimala had not been detected at the inspection point at Pampa — a designated checkpoint on the route. He also sought to know why temple authorities had not immediately alerted Milma upon noticing any discrepancy in the supplied product.

Notably, the controversy surfaces close on the heels of the Sabarimala gold misappropriation case, in which around 15 officials of the Travancore Devaswom Board and others were arrested. That episode had already triggered serious concerns over the governance of temple assets and offerings at one of India's most visited pilgrimage sites.

Cooperative's Next Steps

Despite the swirling allegations, Mani claimed that the sale of Milma ghee had remained unaffected commercially. He said the cooperative would extend full cooperation to the ongoing investigation. A decision on ordering an internal inquiry, he added, would be taken after receiving a report from the Managing Director of the Thiruvananthapuram Regional Union. He made clear that if any Milma official was found to have been complicit, stringent action would follow.

Wider Concerns Over Sabarimala's Governance

With investigations now focusing on yet another sensitive issue involving Sabarimala, scrutiny has intensified over the systems meant to safeguard the affairs of the temple. The back-to-back controversies — first gold misappropriation, now alleged ghee tampering — have placed the Travancore Devaswom Board under sustained pressure to demonstrate institutional accountability. How the probe unfolds, and whether it implicates any supply-chain actors beyond Milma, will determine the next phase of this controversy.