Bhubaneswar: The Mohan Majhi government has constituted a fresh high-level committee to supervise the reopening of Ratna Bhandar (Treasury) at Puri’s Jagannath temple for repair and inventory of valuables, dissolving 12 member panel that was set up by the previous Govt in March this year.
The new panel will be headed by Justice Vishwanath Rath, former Judge Orissa High Court, The law department also notified a 16-member high-level committee under the chairmanship of Justice Rath.
Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan informed this on the night of July 4. He said the panel was formed in accordance with the direction of the Orissa High Court.
It may be noted that In March, the previous BJD government had formed a 12-member committee led by retired Supreme Court judge Arijit Pasayat to supervise the inventory of jewellery and other valuables stored in the Ratna Bhandar.
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“A high-level committee is hereby reconstituted, under the chairmanship of Justice Biswanath Rath, to supervise the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee in carrying out the inventorisation of valuables including jewellery stored in the Ratna Bhandar,” read a notification issued by the Law Department.
The chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has been appointed a member convenor of the committee. Some of the members of the committee include Dr CBKk Mohanty Sudarshan Patnaik, Swami pragyanandaand,former DGP Prakash Mishra. Representatives of Gajapati Maharaj, and representatives of ASI will be on this committee.
Law Minister Harichandan said, the 16-member new committee headed by former judge of Orissa High Court, Justice Biswanath Rath, will hold its meeting in Puri on July 6 to decide the date for the opening of the Ratna Bhandar . The committee will also prepare modalities for the repair of the inner chamber and inventory of valuables stored inside it,
The minister said the panel will also decide which external agencies will be involved in examining the quality of the valuables stored in the treasury of the 12th-century shrine.
As per recommendation of the committee, the state government will decide its future course of action for reopening of the Ratna Bhandar, he said.
It may be noted that while disposing of a PIL on September 29, 2023, filed by BJP leader Samir Mohanty on the safety of Ratna Bhandar, the high court directed the government to form a high-level committee,
BJP government dissolved Ratna Bhandar committee with wrong intentions – BJD
Biju Janata Dal has questioned the BJP government’s decision to dissolve the committee constituted under the chairmanship of Justice Arijit Pasayat on Ratna Bhandar.
Chief Whip of Opposition Mrs. Pramila Malik on Friday said that the BJP government has dissolved the committee constituted under the chairmanship of Justice Pasayat with wrong intentions. The BJP government is saying different things at different times regarding Ratna Bhandar. The people of Odisha know this very well. The BJP government will not go on the right path at all. They will only confuse the people.
Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan lashes out at BJD
State Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan lashed out at BJD for raising questions on the formation of a new committee for Ratna Bhandar.
“The Shameless BJD government could not open Ratna Bhandar even after 24 years of rule. They failed to count the jewellery. Now they are raising questions about why the committee was dissolved. What can be more unfortunate than this. ” said State Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan, while reacting to the statement given by the opposition chief whip Mrs. Pramila Malik.
“It has been 20-25 days since the new government was formed in the state. The new government is taking steps to open the Ratna Bhandar. A new committee has been formed. The committee will decide in its meeting on Saturday about when the Ratna Bhandar will be opened. The items kept in the Ratna Bhandar will be counted. Each article will be digitized and digital photocopied. All will be preserved. It will be used as a referral document for 50 years. So Biju Janata Dal should avoid making such comments. ”, added Shri Harichandan
