Srimandir Ratna Bhandar opening: Orissa High Court issues notice to 4 respondents

The Orissa High Court on Wednesday issued notices to four respondents while hearing a petition filed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regarding the opening of the Ratna Bhandar of Puri Jagannath Temple.

According to sources, the court has served the notices to Srimandir managing committee chairman, chief administrator, Director General of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and its superintendent while hearing the petition filed by form state BJP president Samir Mohanty.

The court has fixed August 7 for the next hearing into the matter, sources informed.    

Notably, Mohanty had filed a petition before the Orissa High Court, seeking the reopening of the treasure trove of the 12th century shrine.

Mohanty, in the petition, stated that the state government was not taking any step to reopen the Ratna Bhandar on the premises of the 12th-century shrine despite the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Puri's titular king Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingh Deb expressing concern over the dilapidated condition of the treasury.

Mohanty had sought the HC's intervention in directing the BJD government to reopen the Ratna Bhandar to carry out necessary repair work and make a fresh inventory of ornaments of the deities stored there for decades.

The previous inventory was made in 1978 even as the Shree Jagannath Temple Act 1954 has a provision to undertake the exercise every three years.

Speaking about the notice, BJP leader and lawyer, Pitambar Acharya said, "The High Court issued notice to all the respondents taking cognisance of the possible danger to the Ratna Bhandar and the valuation of the jewellery inside it."

It is worthwhile to mention here that, the Ratna Bhandar was last opened in April, 2018. A 16-member team including experts of the ASI had entered the outer chamber but could not go to the inner chamber as its key was missing. They inspected the structure from a distance and reported that its condition was weak.

Though a judicial commission was set up to probe into the missing key episode, the state government has not tabled the finding report in the Assembly yet, Mohanty pointed out in his petition.