The Orissa High Court has directed the State Government to complete the long-pending verification of valuables stored in the Ratna Bhandar of the Jagannath Temple, Puri, within three months. The Court also ordered that the judicial inquiry report on the missing keys of the treasury be placed before the State Assembly in its next session.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M. S. Raman passed the directions while hearing a PIL concerning the inventorisation, repair, and maintenance of the Ratna Bhandar, which houses ornaments, precious stones, and other valuables of Lord Jagannath.
The Bench directed the State to tally the inventory prepared by the newly constituted committee with the earlier inventory report of 1978 within three months. It further ordered:
“We, therefore, direct that the report of the Inquiry Committee (on key missing) should be placed on the floor of the Assembly House in the ensuing session and we expect that a decision would be taken thereupon.”
The Court emphasised that the government is duty-bound to act promptly and cautioned that no complacency would be tolerated.
The key to the inner chamber of the Ratna Bhandar was reported missing in April 2018, leading to widespread protests. A duplicate key was later found in a sealed envelope in a district record room, following which an inquiry panel was constituted.
The High Court noted that a judicial commission headed by Justice Raghubir Dash had been formed to investigate the missing keys and that its report had already been submitted to the State Government, as stated in an affidavit filed in April 2024.
The Ratna Bhandar consists of an outer and an inner chamber. While the outer chamber is opened regularly for the deities’ use, the inner chamber was unlocked on July 14, 2024, after 46 years for structural repairs and inventory work.
A High-Level Committee constituted after the change in political regime framed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for opening the chambers. During renovation by the Archaeological Survey of India, the valuables were shifted to temporary strong rooms and were restored to their original chambers in September 2025.
The Temple Managing Committee resolved in November 2025 to prepare a fresh SOP for inventorisation, with the 1978 inventory serving as the benchmark. On January 17, the temple authorities decided that the inventory of jewellery and valuables in the refurbished treasury would begin on an “auspicious day” after receiving the State Government’s approval.
Advocate General Pitambar Acharya informed the Court that the inquiry report on the missing keys would be placed before the Cabinet and then the Assembly. He also submitted that the verification of valuables with the 1978 inventory would require time.
Taking note of these submissions, the Bench fixed a three-month timeline for completion of the verification exercise and directed that the inquiry report be tabled in the Assembly in the next session.
