SHILLONG: The High Court of Meghalaya has ordered an inquiry into the closure of Nartiang Durga temple and also asked the district administration to open the Shiv Temple and Bishari Temple, which were also closed.
The matter came up for hearing for the second day on Friday and the single bench of the court headed by Judge SR Sen observed that as per the direction passed by the court on Thursday, the Acting Dolloi and the headman of Nartiang, West Jaintia Hills, were present along with the investigation officer as well as many people from Nartiang village, but nobody could clarify exactly as to who is the person responsible for locking the temple.
KJ Lyngdoh, Chief Judicial Magistrate, West Jaintia Hills, has been asked to conduct the inquiry to find out who was responsible for locking the temple for 21 days from August 18 evening, as a result Puja could not be performed in the temple.
The chief judicial magistrate will have to submit the report within a week.
It was also informed by the counsel for the petitioners that the Shiv and the Bishari temples were under lock and key.
“I could not understand as to why the lock could not be opened in spite of the order of 6.9.2018 passed by this court,” the judge asked.
The court asked the deputy commissioner of West Jaintia Hills to unlock all the temples immediately. He was also asked to appear in person on the next date of hearing.
The investigation officer along with the Acting Dolloi and the Headman, Nartiang, Swappon Bhattacharjee and Oni Maskut Deshmukh, priests of the Nartiang Temple, will have to be present before the court on the next date.
The matter will be heard on September 14 for further order.
