SC Posts Hearing On Puri Jagannath Temple ‘Improvements’ Compliance Report To Next Monday

Bhubaneswar: With Amicus Curiae Ranjit Kumar seeking time to go through the status report filed by Jagannath Temple Managing Committee, the Supreme Court has post the hearing on progress of the compliance of its directives issued in 2019 related to the 12th-century shrine to next Monday.

Advocate General of Odisha Ashok Kumar Parija also submitted about appointment of Ranjan Kumar Das, a 2007-batch IAS officer, as full-time Chief Administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA).

On November 4, 2019, the top court had issued 25 directives to the state government to improve the state of affairs at the shrine while hearing a petition filed by Mrinalini Padhi, a lawyer from Cuttack, in 2018, for its protection, preservation and effective administration.

Stating that it was unaware of the status of the compliance, a two-judge bench of Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar on March 29 asked the state government to furnish the compliance report in four weeks. “As on today, we are not aware which conditions have been complied with and which have not,” read the order, posting the next hearing on May 1.

The apex court also rejected the government’s plea to extend the time limit for appointment of full-time chief administrator till December 2023.

The Supreme Court had said that obstruction of daily rituals by servitors is unpardonable and asked the shrine administration to initiate stringent action against those responsible. It also directed the temple administration to set up a school for the children of servitors. The bench also sought information on how much of the Rs 5 crore received for the welfare and education of children of the servitors has been spent.

The SJTA has reportedly submitted 33-page affidavit with details on appointment of a full-time chief administrator, authority to an IAS officer to monitor daily rituals and festivals, opening of Gurukula Sevashram, and land and property of Lord Jagannath.

Stating that some of the orders have already been executed and others are being implemented, temple’s administrator (development) Ajay Jena had earlier said that an MoU has been signed with an education group to set up a gurukul for the children of servitors at Puri while measures have also been taken to maintain hygiene of the temple kitchen and Ananda Bazaar.