The Odisha High Court on Friday asked the State Government to submit an action-taken report (ATR) in the court on the Justice PK Mohanty Commission’s recommendations that were made after probing into the November 2006 stampede in the Shree Jagannath Temple at Puri.
A Division Bench of Justices AK Rath and BR Sarangi asked the Government to submit the ATR within two weeks. HC’s order came while adjudicating a PIl filed by social activist Chittaranjan Mohanty pertaining to the safety and security of the devotees visiting the Puri temple.
Responding to an earlier notice of the HC concerning Mohanty’s PIl, the Government on Friday informed that it has already accepted the Mohanty Commission’s recommendations, which were submitted along with the report in the year 2009. Asked to probe into the cause of the stampede that took four lives, the commission had made several recommendations to the Government to prevent such mishaps.
Mohanty in his petition has alleged that due to improper security management by the Government, the temple is now under the scanner of terrorists. Annexing a newspaper report, the petitioner has referred to recent video clippings in social media showing aerial views of the temple.
The petition has also questioned about the “mismanagement” and “maladministration” of the temple administration in disciplining the servitors of the temple, for which there have been lots of criticism both in the State and outside.While asking the Government to submit the ATR, the High Court also asked the petitioner to file an affidavit within two weeks substantiating the questions he has raised in the petition.