The Supreme Court-appointed Amicus Curiae Ranjit Kumar on Tuesday sought two weeks’ time from the court to file his report on the evictions being carried out around the Jagannath Temple in Puri to make the area encroachment-free.
The apex court then fixed October 3 as the next date for the hearing in this case. A Division Bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra adjudicated the matter pertaining to a case filed by a Cuttack lawyer, Mrinalini Padhi.
“The next hearing in the case has been posted to October 3. Justice Arun Mishra said that along with demolition, restoration should also be done and the State Government should look into the rehabilitation of the affected people,” informed Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) counsel Swetaketu Mishra.
Notably, Kumar, appointed as Amicus Curiae in the case of Mrinalini Padhi Vs Union of India over reforms in the Jagannath Temple, had visited Puri along with Solicitor General of India Tushar
Mehta on September 6 and given a clean chit to the eviction drive carried out by the Puri district administration.
He had expressed satisfaction over the steps being taken for converting Puri into a world heritage city.
During their visit to Puri, Kumar and Mehta had also met Puri Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingh Deb. It was followed by a meeting with senior Government officials, including SJTA Chief Administrator Krishan Kumar.
