# Kerala High Court reinstates Milma board quashed in Sabarimala ghee row 2026-11-04T12:03:09+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 4 independent outlets (5 source reports) The Kerala High Court Division Bench has quashed the state government order dissolving the board of directors of the Milma Thiruvananthapuram Regional Co-operative Milk Producers' Union, directing its immediate reinstatement. The bench of Justices Dr A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and A.K. Preetha overturned a single-bench verdict that had upheld the Dairy Development Director's decision to dissolve the committee on 25 July over alleged irregularities in Sabarimala ghee distribution. The court held the dissolution was illegal, noting the Director relied on a Joint Director's report and that the committee members had cooperated with the inquiry without any evidence tampering. It also found the order was passed without consulting the State Co-operative Union as required under the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969. The reinstated managing committee will replace the appointed administrator. Milma Chairman K S Mani reiterated that the ghee was packed in sealed 15 kg tins and that full payment was received, adding that if the product was replaced after delivery, those responsible must be prosecuted. Update, 5 November 2026: Devdiscourse now also reports the reinstatement, carrying the same basic facts as Deccan Chronicle and Asianet News: the Division Bench quashed the government order, observed the dissolution was illegal, and directed immediate reinstatement. It includes Milma Chairman Mani's August press conference statement that the ghee was packed in sealed 15 kg tins and that the federation received full payment, matching the earlier accounts from Deccan Chronicle and Asianet News. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The legal reversal is the lead across all four outlets, but Hindu frames it as a 'setback to the Keralam government', while Devdiscourse, Asianet News and Deccan Chronicle lead with the neutral fact of the reinstatement itself. Hindu adds a procedural detail the others omit: the Registrar had refused a show-cause notice on grounds of allegation severity, a point that underlines the court's rejection of that reasoning. Devdiscourse and Asianet run identical wire copy that includes the chairman's detailed defence of ghee quality and the sealed-tin argument from August, a context the others treat more briefly or leave for later paragraphs. The single-bench verdict is cited uniformly, but only Hindu names the four districts the union covers, a granular detail that reinforces the scale of the restoration. All agree on the illegality finding and the immediate reinstatement, with the chairman's call for prosecution of any post-delivery tampering as the concrete open end. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 1 government-critical, 1 neutral - ANI - deccanchronicle.com Straight wire copy, no slant on government or opposition - asianetnews.com Straight wire copy, no slant on government or opposition - devdiscourse.com Straight wire copy, no slant on government or opposition - thehindu.com (government critical) Leads with 'setback to Keralam government', adding critical procedural detail This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Kerala government, Kerala High Court, Milma, Sabarimala Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/kerala-hc-reinstates-milma-board-dissolved-over-ghee-row/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/kerala-hc-reinstates-milma-board-dissolved-over-ghee-row/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/