Bhubaneswar, Feb 12: The Orissa High Court has directed the State Government to place the Justice Raghubir Dash Commission report on the missing key episode of the Ratna Bhandar of the 12th-century Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri before the Odisha Legislative Assembly in its upcoming session.

Hearing a public interest litigation, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M.S. Raman stated that the report, prepared under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, must be laid before the House without delay. The court stressed that there should be no “dormant exercise” and described it as the State’s “ordained duty” to act promptly.

The Bench further instructed the government to complete within three months the reconciliation of the latest Ratna Bhandar inventory with the 1978 inventory. It observed that the jewellery and valuables listed in 1978 matched those recorded by the present committee.

The Ratna Bhandar, the temple treasury, contains priceless ornaments and offerings dedicated over centuries to Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra.

The controversy began on June 5, 2018, when the Naveen Patnaik-led government ordered a judicial probe into the reported missing keys. The Commission later submitted its report, which the court has now ordered to be tabled in the Assembly without further delay.

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