The Orissa High Court has asked the Odisha government to appoint the chairman of the committee for the Ratna Bhandar (treasure trove) of the Puri Shree Jagannath Temple within four weeks.

The committee on Ratna Bhandar will be chaired by a retired judge either of the High Court or of the Supreme Court, the court said.

The committee will take a call on the reopening, inventorisation and counting of the jewellery of the Ratna Bhandar.

Eminent lawyer of the high court Pitambar Acharya told The Telegraph: “The high court on Friday asked the state government to constitute a high-level committee to supervise works relating to the preparation of an inventory within two months. The order had been issued in September 2023. The Shree Jagannath Temple management has also approved the constitution of a committee for the inventorisation and counting of the jewellery inside the treasure trove of the temple.”

He said: “However, the state government dilly-dallied on the issue. As the state government did not constitute the committee within the stipulated time frame, we moved to the high court through a miscellaneous petition. We have also filed contempt petitions against the SJTA.”

Acharya said: “Hearing the misc-petition, the bench comprising Chief Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh and Justice Savitri Ratho directed the Odisha government to appoint the chairperson of the committee in four weeks. Once the chairperson of the committee is appointed, the committee will be formed thereafter.

“The next hearing will be on after four weeks.”

For the last few months, the demand for the opening of the Ratna Bhandar has been getting louder. The last time the inventory of ornaments was made was in 1978.

To reopen the Ratna Bhandar, the administration needs to constitute a committee comprising servitors, temple officials and members of the Archeological Survey of India (ASI).

The ASI has already given its nod for the opening up of the Ratna Bhandar.