Jagannath Temple Reforms: Amicus Curiae Submits Report, Hearing Deferred To March 5

New Delhi: Former Solicitor General and Supreme Court-appointed amicus curiae Ranjit Kumar submitted the interim report on the reforms in Jagannath Temple in Puri to the apex court on Wednesday.

According to sources, he also sought more time from the court to submit a comprehensive report.

After examining the amicus curiae’s report, the SC was to hear the case. The hearing, however, was deferred to March 5 as one of the judges in the bench, Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri, was unavailable.

The apex court had scheduled the hearing for February 27, and had directed the amicus curiae to submit the report soon after returning from Puri.

Kumar, during his two-day visit to Puri on February 22 and 23, had expressed satisfaction over the state of affairs at Jagannath Temple after a series of meetings with the Gajapati Maharaja, the district judge, Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), Jagannath Temple Managing Committee and the Chhattisa Nijog.

Prior to the visit of the amicus curiae, his assistant and senior Supreme Court lawyer Priya Hingorani had arrived in Puri on December 20 and had a meeting with the SJTA and the Chhattisa Nijog on the apex court’s 12-point reforms proposal.