CUTTACK: The issue of making Srimandir accessible for the disabled is back in the Orissa High Court with the filing of a contempt petition for non-compliance of its earlier order. In the February 28, 2022 order, the single judge bench of Justice Biswanath Rath had directed the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee and Chief Administrator Puri Jagannath Temple to collectively take a lawful decision in the matter by treating the petition as a representation at the instance of the petitioner.
“The entire exercise shall be completed within a period of one month”, Justice Rath had also specified in the order issued on the petition filed by Jitendra Kumar Biswal, a resident of Bargarh. The petition had sought direction to make Srimandir accessible for the disabled as at present such facility is not available at the 12-century shrine. There was need for designated space within the inner sanctum of the Srimandir for wheelchair-bound devotees to offer their prayers and have a clear view of the deities.
Biswal has filed the contempt petition naming Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee chairman Gajapati Maharaja Dibya Singha Deb, Chief Administrator Vir Vikram Yadav and Collector Puri Samarth Verma, as respondents. Biswal alleged that though a letter along with copy of the petition and order was received by the temple administration on March 9, 2022, the order has not been complied with.