Amid a controversy over the missing keys of the inner treasury of Lord Jagannath Temple, Puri king Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb today said he does not have any role in the incident.
In a statement issued from the US, Deb said he has been in possession of one of the three keys of the Ratna Bhandar.
"Prior to 1960, the Gajapati as 'Raja Superintendent' in-charge of the administration of temple affairs, was fully responsible and accountable for the safe custody of Ratna Bhandar and its keys," he said.
"But upon implementation of Shri Jagannath Temple Act in 1960, the state government became the supreme authority of the secular management of temple affairs and consequently the ultimate responsibility for ensuring safety of Ratna Bhandar and safe custody of its keys was taken over by the state government with power to frame appropriate rules and/or issue directions in that regard," Deb said.
He said by virtue of the Act, the Gajapati king was divested of all administrative and executive powers and responsibilities were vested upon the administrator (now chief administrator).
"Under the provision of the Temple Act, Srimandir (temple) Managing Committee takes policy decisions and supervises the performance of the chief administrator, but it is not vested with administrative/ executive power," Deb said.
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He said that as chairman of the managing committee, the Gajapati king presides over its meeting and signs the proceedings. Apart from this, his role and responsibilities are the same as other ordinary members of the committee.
Earlier, senior servitor Ramakrushna Dasmohapatra had blamed the Gajapati king for not taking any proactive measures on the issue.
"The Gajapati king is supreme and the first servitor of the temple and he should be having one of the keys of the inner Ratna Bhandar. Hence, he should clarify whether he has the keys or not," Dasmohapatra had said.
Senior BJD leader Damodar Rout had also mentioned that the Gajapati king should clarify his stand on the key missing controversy.
The Odisha government yesterday appointed retired Orissa High Court judge Raghubir Dash as the chairman of the inquiry commission constituted to probe the case of missing keys of the Jagannath Temple treasury.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik approved Dash's name for the post and the commission will submit its report in August after the annual Ratha Yatra on July 14.
A controversy erupted recently when Puri District Collector Arvind Agarwal observed in a temple management committee meeting that there was no information confirming the availability of the keys.
On April 4, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration had made an attempt to open the inner chamber of the treasury for inspection. But they could not open the room for non-availability of the keys and had to return after peeping into the chamber through a broken window.
According to information provided by Law Minister Pratap Jena in the last assembly session, assessment of valuables stocked in the treasury was last carried out in 1978.
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