Congress, BJP Demand Judicial Probe Report on Missing Ratnabhandar Keys of Jagannath Temple to be made Public

Bhubaneswar: In separate statements, the BJP and the Congress demanded that the Odisha government should open the ‘Ratna Bhandar’ of the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri as well as to make public the report of a judicial commission formed to probe into the issue of missing keys of the Ratnabhandar.

Orissa High Court has also asked the Odisha government to file its response to a petition urging for making public the report of Justice Raghubir Das Commission of Inquiry on the missing Ratna Bhandar keys. The state government has been ordered to provide its statement by July 10.

“Although the judicial commission submitted its report to the state government five years back in November 201, the Odisha government has not taken any action on it,” said BJP spokesperson Pitamber Acharya.

Congress leader Bijay Patnaik said, “If the government believes in transparency, the judicial commission report should be made public without further delay.”

Ratna Bhandar or the treasury of the Shree Jagannath temple has not been opened for 38 years since 1985. It has two parts. The outer chamber of the Ratna Bhandar stores ornaments of daily use of the deities. The inner chamber is said to be having more precious jewelry and valuables. The keys to the outer chamber are available, but the keys of the inner chamber are missing. Information about missing keys came to the fore when in April 2018, Orissa High Court directed to open it.

Meanwhile, the ruling BJD has said that the opposition should refrain from indulging in politics in the name of Lord Jagannath.