Puri: The Supreme Court-appointed amicus curiae Gopal Subramanium held talks with Shankaracharya Nischalananda Saraswati and the Shri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Friday morning over the apex court’s 12 proposals on disciplinary reforms in the 12th century shrine.
Subramanium met the temple administration in the temple office where he was given an introduction on the culture and heritage of the Srimandir.
SJTA chief administrator Pradipta Mohapatra said, “It was an introductory session where we briefed him on topics like the history of the temple, the hereditary rights, transfer of temple from the Gajapati’s hands to the state government and the significance of Rath Yatra.”
He was also briefed on the temple administration’s stand on the SC reform proposals.
Amongst the 12 reforms suggested by the apex court, abolition of hereditary appointment of ‘sevaks’, elimination of collection of ‘dakshina’ (donation) and amendments to the Jagannath Temple Act of 1954 are the three proposals that will be discussed in detail with the amicus curiae.
Subramanium attended a closed-door meeting with Jagadguru Shankaracharya at Gobardhana Muth where he sought blessings from the head of Puri Dham and discussed the proposals with him.
Mohapatra has also shared the amicus curiae’s two-day itinerary with the media.
Mohapatra stated that the amicus curiae had not finalised any meeting and had intimated that the appointments will be finalised only after his darshan of the Holy Trinity.
He concluded, “The amicus curiae will discuss with all the stakeholders. He is open to discussions and the final report to the Supreme Court depends on all these sessions.”
PNN