Amicus curiae to visit Puri on Feb 23

Bhubaneswar: Former solicitor general Ranjit Kumar, who was last month appointed by the Supreme Court as amicus curiae to oversee reforms at Jagannath Temple in Puri, is scheduled to visit the 12th century shrine on February 23. During his maiden visit as amicus curiae he will take stock of the progress of the implementation of reforms, suggested by the Supreme Court in June last year.
Kumar is likely to interact with temple officials, servitors and other stakeholders. The Supreme Court, based on the petition of Orissa high court lawyer Mrinalini Padhi, on June 8 last year suggested several reforms in the shrine and had appointed Gopal Subramaniam as the amicus curiae to assist in the case. But Subramaniam withdrew from the task in November last year.

“We have received confirmation that the amicus curiae (Ranjit Kumar) will arrive at Puri on February 23 and hold meetings at the temple office. It is not yet decided the duration of his stay and persons with whom he would interact,” temple’s spokesperson Laxmidhar Pujapanda told TOI.

Major reforms proposed by the Supreme Court last year included ban on acceptance of dakshina (donation) by servitors from pilgrims, queue darshan system and abolition of hereditary priesthood in the shrine. While the temple administration started implementing almost all suggestions, including the ban on dakshina, the queue darshan system had sparked massive violence in Puri on October 3 last year. Opposing the introduction of queue system, several priests and locals had gone on the rampage in the town. Police subsequently arrested over 100 persons.

The violence broke out nearly 10 days after Subramaniam left Puri after taking stock of the implementation of the Supreme Court’s order. Subramaniam had consulted different stakeholders, including servitors, Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, Puri king Dibyasingha Deb and temple officials on September 21, 22 and 23, urging all for successful implementation of the reforms.