3 months ago
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In an important judgement successful transportation with Ratna Bhandar, the treasury of Shree Jagannath Temple, Puri, the Orissa High Court has directed the State Government to implicit the workout of tallying the caller inventory study with the inventory study of the Committee submitted successful the twelvemonth 1978 wrong the adjacent 3 months.
During the past galore years, the contented of the ruinous information of Ratna Bhandar and the missing of its keys had been raised successful antithetic forums.
As per the last inventory carried retired 45 years ago, the Ratna Bhandar had much than 1.2 quintals of golden and 2.2 quintals of silver. In summation to this, determination is simply a sizeable magnitude of golden ornaments which are successful regular usage successful the temple. For evident reasons, the State Government had shown ‘reluctance’ to unfastened the treasury of Shree Jagannath Temple.
After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power, the State constituted a High Level Committee nether the Chairmanship of Justice Biswanath Rath, erstwhile Orissa High Court Judge. Subsequently, the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was framed by the authorities successful narration to the opening of the Ratna Bhandar. They were opened connected July 14, 2024.
The jewellery and valuables of some the Ratna Bhandars were shifted to impermanent beardown rooms located successful the adjacent Jagamohana successful bid to facilitate the Archaeological Survey of India to behaviour the repair and conservation works of the Ratna Bhandar.
Adjudicating a substance relating to hold successful tallying, a part seat of Orissa High Court comprising Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Judge Justice M.S. Raman directed, “we hasten to adhd that nary complacency tin beryllium shown by the State Government successful narration to the process of the inventory and the study submitted by the Committee and we spot and anticipation that the State shall amusement alacrity successful this regard.”
“We further nonstop the State authorities to implicit the workout of tallying the inventory study submitted by the recently constituted Committee with the inventory study of the Committee submitted successful the twelvemonth 1978 wrong 3 months from date,” says the Division Bench, which had delivered judgement connected January 27, 2026. The transcript of judgement was made nationalist recently.
The Court observed that “it is nary summation saying that the inventory of the jewellery and valuables of Lord Shri Jagannath which was conducted mode backmost successful the twelvemonth 1978 shall beryllium the benchmark papers successful bid to ascertain the inventory undertaken by the committee subsequently constituted by the State Government, whether each the jewellery and valuables of Lord Shri Jagannath which were recovered astatine the clip of the inventory conducted successful the twelvemonth 1978 tally with the inventory done by the contiguous committee.”
Moreover, the High Court directed that the study of the Inquiry Committee with respect to the missing cardinal should beryllium placed connected the level of Assembly House successful the ensuing session. “We expect that a determination would beryllium taken thereupon,” judges remarked.
“The enquiry committee besides submitted the study connected the missing oregon misplacement of the keys of those Ratna Bhandars, which, successful presumption of the provisions of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 is required to beryllium placed connected the level of the House of the Assembly. There cannot beryllium immoderate dormant workout successful this respect and it is an ordained work of the State to instrumentality punctual action,” the High Court observed.
Meanwhile, the repair and conservation enactment of some the Ratna Bhandars has already been completed by the Archaeological Survey of India.
