Amicus Curiae gives clean chit to eviction drive in Puri
Reporters Today Puri, Sep 7: Supreme Court-appointed amicus curiae Ranjit Kumar has given a clean chit to the eviction drive undertaken by the Odisha Government around the 13th Century Jagannath Temple shrine in this holy city in Odisha stating that, there was consent of the stakeholders as it would benefit the people.
Kumar and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta met Govardhan Peeth shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati and Puri Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingh Deb after visiting the Temple. Later a meeting held with senior government officials, including Shri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief administrator Krishan Kumar. An eviction drive was last month in the area surrounding the 12th-century shrine and all structures within 75 metres of its boundary wall are being cleared.
The Amicus Curie, who also had discussions with the officials of Odisha Government said, “We spoke to the temple managing committee members, took their views and inspected the eviction drive along the four sides of the temple.” The decision taken to convert Puri into a world heritage city is not adversely affecting local people, he added.
