Orissa High Court Orders Tabling of Ratna Bhandar Probe Report in Odisha Assembly

Bhubaneswar: The Orissa High Court has directed the Odisha 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 State Legislative Assembly during 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, submitted under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, must be laid before the House without any further delay. The court stressed that the matter cannot remain a “dormant exercise” and described it as the State’s “ordained duty” to act promptly.

The Bench also instructed the government to complete, within three months, the reconciliation of the latest inventory of the Ratna Bhandar with the inventory prepared in 1978. The court noted that jewellery and valuables listed in the 1978 records were found to match those documented by the present inventory committee.

The Ratna Bhandar, the temple’s treasury, is believed to contain priceless gold ornaments, rare gems, pearls, diamonds, silver articles, and other offerings dedicated over centuries by devotees to Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Goddess Subhadra.

The controversy dates back to June 5, 2018, when the then Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government ordered a judicial inquiry following public outrage over reports that the keys to the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar were missing. The Justice Raghubir Dash Commission was subsequently formed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the missing or misplaced keys and later submitted its findings to the State Government.

According to the government, the report had been examined and a decision was taken to place it before a Cabinet to be formed after the June 2024 Assembly elections. However, the High Court has now made it clear that the statutory requirement of tabling the report in the Assembly must be fulfilled without further delay.

Expressing hope for swift action, the Bench said no complacency should be shown in finalising the inventory process or in implementing the Commission’s findings, and urged the State to proceed with due urgency.