Ratna Bhandar key: HC gives govt two weeks to file report

Cuttack: The Orissa high court on Wednesday granted two more weeks, the third time in nearly nine months, to the state government to file an affidavit on the action taken on the report submitted by Justice Raghubir Das Commission more than five years ago. The commission was constituted under the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1952 on June 6, 2018, two months after the Puri Jagannath Temple Ratna Bhandar keys went missing during an inspection bid.Justice Dash submitted an inquiry report to the state government on November 29, 2018.
Dilip Kumar Baral, a Puri resident, filed a PIL for tabling the report in the assembly. Section 3 (4) of the Act prescribes tabling of the report of a commission constituted under it in the assembly within six months of submission of the report to the government, the petition said.
On April 25, the HC had first sought from the government the current status of the report. Later, the government sought two more months to submit the report on July 10. The court had then granted one week’s time when the state government sought time on December 1 and 15.
When the petition was taken up on Wednesday, Anup Kumar Mohapatra, appearing for the petitioner, pointed out that proceedings in the PIL had made no progress as the government had not complied with the court’s order. The state counsel assured the court that he would submit an affidavit on the status of the commission report within the next three days.
The two-judge bench of acting Chief Justice B R Sarangi and Justice M S Raman adjourned hearing on the matter by two weeks, expecting the state government to submit an update.