Jagannath Temple Probe Panel Seeks Term Extension

Cuttack: The Justice Raghubir Das Commission of Inquiry, probing the missing Ratna Bhandar keys of the Jagannath Temple in Puri, has sought extension of its term by another three months.

In a letter to the Home Department, secretary to the Commission Kasinath Panigrahi said that the three-month term is going to end on September 7. Since the inquiry is yet to be completed, he sought a further extension of its term by another three months.

Following the statewide resentment over the missing Ratna Bhandar keys, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on June 4 had ordered a judicial probe. Two days after the order, the Home department, in a notification on June 6, had announced the appointment of Justice Raghubir Das, former judge of the Orissa High Court, as chairman of the commission of inquiry to probe the missing keys.

The Commission was required to submit its report to the state government within three months.

The Home department on June 8 had issued the terms of reference (ToR) of the investigation.

The Commission, in the meanwhile, has expedited the verification of the affidavits it has received from the State Law secretary, chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), Niti Prasasak of Jagannath Temple, District Treasury Officer, Puri, former Puri collector Arvind Agrawal, present collector Jyoti Prakash Das, social activist Rajkumar Mohanty and convener of Jagannath Sena Priyadarshan Patnaik.

Apart from this, it has also received some important documents related to the missing Ratna Bhandar keys.