Surendra Soren
Ranchi
The Canara Bank account of the Jagannathpur Temple Nyas Samiti in Ranchi has been frozen after an inquiry allegedly found that the trust was operating the account using the Permanent Account Number (PAN) of a different committee.
According to information available, the action followed a complaint filed by Jharkhand High Court advocate Harsh Kumar with the Ranchi Deputy Commissioner, Canara Bank, the Income Tax Department and the Ministry of Finance.
The complaint alleged that the PAN of the Jagannathpur Temple Renovation Committee, which had been constituted solely for the renovation of the historic temple and was expected to cease functioning after completion of the work, was being used by the newly constituted Jagannathpur Temple Nyas Samiti to operate its bank account. The complainant argued that one legal entity cannot use the PAN allotted to another entity, making such use a violation of statutory norms.
Following a preliminary verification, Canara Bank reportedly froze the trust’s account and directed the Nyas Samiti to obtain and submit its own valid PAN before banking operations could resume.
The issue comes amid an ongoing dispute over the administration of the historic Jagannathpur Temple. In 2023, the Jharkhand High Court heard a case involving the old and newly constituted temple committees and had passed interim directions concerning the financial powers of the new trust.
At present, the bank account remains frozen. The trust is expected to submit its own PAN after completing the necessary formalities to seek restoration of banking operations.
Neither the Jagannathpur Temple Nyas Samiti nor Canara Bank had issued an official statement on the development at the time of filing this report.
