Ratna Bhandar inventory: BJP slams Odisha govt for ignoring Supreme Court rulings
BHUBANESWAR: Even as the state government finally appointed a full-time chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), the BJP on Sunday questioned the delay and alleged that it was made keeping in view the hearing in the Supreme Court on Monday.
Coming down heavily on the state government for violating the Supreme Court order on many counts, senior lawyer of Orissa High Court and state BJP spokesperson Pitambar Acharya said the government has shown scant regard to the apex court by appointing a full-time chief administrator after more than three years of the court directives. The court is scheduled to hear the case on May 1, 2023.
He said the Supreme Court had also directed the state government to place before the court what kind of inventory it has prepared and how it secured the valuables and ornaments offered to the Holy Trinity by the devotees. But, since the Ratna Bhandar has not been opened, the state government could not have submitted the affidavit on the safekeeping of the temple ornaments and other valuables. This is another violation of the apex court order which is unfortunate, Acharya said.
The directive came in response to the PIL filed by Mrinalini Padhi who had requested the Supreme Court to direct an investigation into the disappearance of the keys to the Ratna Bhandar of the Shree Jagannath Temple, Puri and sought a fresh inventory of the valuables including precious jewellery and gold ornaments stored at the temple treasury. Padhi also highlighted the difficulties faced by devotees during darshan and harassment by temple sevayats.
The apex court in its interim order had issued a slew of directions to the state government on November 4, 2019, including the appointment of a full-time chief administrator. It directed the temple administration and the state government to enable devotees and pilgrims to have darshan peacefully without any obstruction. Meanwhile, the Orissa High Court has also asked the state government to file an affidavit on the status of the report submitted by Justice Raghubir Dash commission.