The Odisha High Court on Thursday asked the State Government to submit before it the report of the Justice PK Mohanty Commission of Enquiry, which was set up to probe into the November 4, 2006 stampede inside the Shree Jagannath Temple at Puri.
Adjudicating a PIl pertaining to the safety and security of devotees visiting the 12th-century shrine, a Division Bench of the court headed by Chief Justice AK Goel sought the inquiry commission report that was submitted to the Government in 2009.Asked to probe into the cause of the stampede that took four lives, the commission in its report, among others, had made several recommendations to the Government to prevent such mishaps.
The High Court also asked the State Government, the Puri district administration and the temple administration to file counters to the PIl filed by Chittaranjan Mohanty, a practising lawyer of the HC and a political activist.Mohanty in his petition has alleged that due to improper security management by the State Government, the world-famous temple is now under the scanner of terrorists. Annexing a newspaper report, the petitioner has referred to the recent video clippings in social media showing aerial views of the temple.
The petition too has questioned about the “mismanagement” and “maladministration” of the temple administration in disciplining the priests and servitors of the temple for which there have been lots of criticisms both in the State and outside.
“Since some mean, greedy and unscrupulous priests and servitors are harassing the devotees and visitors every now and then, the right to free profession, practice and propagation of religion guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution of India is violated,” the petition has stated.