New Delhi: The Supreme Court (SC) Wednesday postponed the hearing of Sri Jagannath temple case to March 5 as Justice AK Sikri, one of the members of a three-member bench, was unavailable during the hearing.
The matter came before a two-judge bench comprising Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Justice MR Shah which postponed the hearing to March 5 citing unavailability of Justice Sikri.
Significantly, Amicus Curiae Ranjeet Kumar submitted to the court that he had visited the temple February 23 following the direction of the apex court and met various stakeholders there. He further said that various stakeholders have given him written submissions and it would take a little time to compile the report as he has to study all the submissions. He sought more time to submit the report.
“At the request made by learned Amicus Curiae, list the matter on March 5 to enable him to file the Report,” the bench observed.
Meanwhile, assistant to amicus curiae Priya Hingorani said that they would submit the report March 5. She further said that hygiene is one of the issues she observed in the temple and mentioned this in her report to the amicus curiae.
Earlier, the apex court had directed the amicus curiae to visit Srimandir along with Higorani February 22-23 and interact with various stakeholders before submitting a report containing various recommendations for the consideration of the court.
Ranjeet Kumar had held a meeting with the Temple Managing Committee Chairman and Gajapati Maharaja Divyasingha Deb, servitors, district administration, police, Shree Jagannath Temple Administration and others February 23. He had said that all the arrangements were satisfactory in the temple but there was scope for improvement.