The Orissa High Court on Wednesday served a show cause notice to four persons on the opening of the Ratna Bhandar (treasure trove) of the Shree Jagannath temple.

Notices were sent to Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb, the chairman of the Puri, Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), the chief administrator SJTA, director general Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and superintending archaeologist, ASI, Odisha circle.

The Ratna Bhandar was last opened in 1978.

The high court issued the direction while hearing a writ petition on the issue of opening the Ratna Bhandara vis-à-vis the inventory of its gold ornaments and repair work of the Ratna Bhandar. The high court asked the four respondents to file their responses to the writ petition and scheduled the next hearing on August 7.

Eminent lawyer of the high court Pitambara Acharya told The Telegraph: “The petitioner in its writ petition raised the issue that the inventory of the Ratna Bhandar should be done by a high power committee chaired by the governor of Odisha or a sitting judge of the Orissa High Court. It should be done in the same manner as in 1978. For the past 45 years, there has been no inventory of the ornament which leads to the suspicion whether the ornaments of the lord are safe or not.”

Acharya said: “The ASI and the empowered committee of the high court have already inspected the Shree Jagannath Temple. They have also expressed concern that the condition of the Ratna Bhandar is in dilapidated condition. It requires immediate repair and restoration. The Ratna Bhandara needs to be safe.”

The petition was filed by former state BJP president Samir Mohanty. “We want to know that all the ornaments of the Lord are safe and no ornaments are missing,” said Mohanty.

The Ratna Bhandar comprises two chambers (inner and outer) and it stores the jewels and ornaments that the three deities are adorned with. The outer chamber is regularly opened and ornaments are taken out by the priests on the occasion of festivals.

In 2018, there were concerns regarding the safety and durability of the inner chamber of the treasure room. The inner chamber has not been opened since 1978. In 2018, when cracks were noticed on the outer wall and repair work was needed, the Puri district collector stated that the keys to the inner chamber were missing.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik ordered the formation of an inquiry commission in June 2018 headed by Justice Raghubir Dash to probe into the matter and find persons responsible for this. On November 29, 2018, the Raghubir Dash Commission finally submitted a report to the department of home, Government of Odisha.

“It's really a matter of concern why the government is not putting the report either before the state legislature or making it public. The government has spent lakhs of rupees on the commission but is sitting over the matter and not putting the report in the public domain which is a matter of concern,” Mohanty said.