The Odisha High Court has directed the state government to enumerate the gold and precious stones of the Jagannath temple within three months. The court directed the state government to submit the 2018 inquiry report into the “mysterious disappearance” of keys to the temple’s internal treasury in the state assembly during the upcoming budget session.
The High Court said the state could not afford to be complacent about the sacred treasures of one of India’s holiest temples. (@rashtrapatibhvn/PTI)”There can be no latent exercise in this matter and it is an established duty of the state to take immediate action,” a bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Murahari Sri Raman said in the January 27 order in a public interest litigation.
The order, uploaded on the high court’s website on Thursday, said the state could not tolerate complacency over the sacred treasures of one of India’s holiest temples.
The Ratna Bhandar, located near the sanctum sanctorum, is arguably the temple’s most valuable property and contains several precious jewels, including diamonds, gold and silver.
During the last inventory of the Ratna Bhandar between 13 May and 23 July 1978, 454 gold articles weighing 128.380 kg and 293 silver articles weighing 221.530 kg were found in both chambers of the treasury.
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In July 2024, the jewels were removed from the jewel vault for audit and treasury repairs.
The previous Naveen Patnaik government had appointed former Orissa High Court judge Raghuvir Das in June 2018 to investigate the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the keys to the ‘Ratna Bhandar’. The commission submitted the report to the Odisha government in November 2018, but the state government did not table it in the state assembly.
The petition sought submission to the Legislature of a list of ornaments, valuables and precious stones owned by the presiding deity of the Jagannath temple in Puri since ancient times, compliance with the Commission of Inquiry Act and inquiry reports into the repair and maintenance of the gem treasury.
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The court said that the latest list conducted in 1978 would serve as the basic reference document.
The bench said the newly constituted committee should reconcile the current inventory with the records of 1978 to ensure that all items recorded at that time are accounted for.
The state government sought additional time for the exercise but the court rejected the request. “We hasten to add that the state government cannot show any complacency regarding the process of inventory and the report submitted by the committee and we trust and hope that the state will show promptness in this regard,” the bench said.
