Complying with the Supreme Court orders in letter and spirit, the expert-committee making an inventory of the assets of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple met and decided to defer opening of the secret vault A till further orders. After the meeting, retired high court judge Justice M N Krishnan who heads the committee, said the Supreme Court's order regarding the temple will be complied with in its letter and spirit.

Meanwhile, Kerala government is planning a Rs 30-crore security plan for the shrine, the first installment of which was earmarked in the state budget presented in the assembly on Friday. The new measures would replace the temporary arrangements which have been put in place for now. Currently, about 200 personnel from the local police, over a dozen cops from the Quick Reaction Team and 48 police commandoes are guarding the temple where stock taking has revealed wealth estimated at over Rs 1 lakh crore. The estimates are merely based on the bullion prices and have not taken into account the antique value of the riches.

The director general of police has recommended that the home department declare the area within 500 metres of the temple a special security zone. If this materialises, constructions in the zone would require the consent of the police and district collector. A special police control room has already begun to function outside the Western Gate of the shrine. Five vaults in the temple including one which had not been opened after 1872 were unsealed last week by the SC-appointed panel.