Guwahati, July 26: The Kamakhya Debuttar Board, which was recently asked by the Supreme Court to hand over all properties of the Kamakhya temple, today refused to submit a detailed financial statement since it was not provided account details by the Bordeori Samaj till 1998, when it took over the temple.

In an affidavit submitted to Kamrup (metro) deputy commissioner M. Angamuthu, Debuttar Board secretary Naba Kanta Sarma stated that July 7 judgment of the Supreme Court had not directed it to submit detailed accounts since 1998 onwards.

Guwahati revenue circle officer Lakhinandan Saharia, however, told The Telegraph today that the apex court direction to the board to hand over all properties meant financial details as well.

"Properties of the temple mean both movable and immovable properties, including financial details. Since they failed to hand over the properties within the July 20 deadline, we started to prepare an inventory of the articles in the temple and its premises being looked after by the board. The articles include gold, silver and brass ornaments and utensils used in temple activities. They are required to submit a ledger and cashbook of the temple accounts too," he said.

The district administration had raided the temple premises atop Nilachal hills here on July 21 and taken control of two guesthouses, one health centre and some other goods, as part of their process to implement the Supreme Court direction to hand it over to Bordeori Samaj, which looked after the temple activities till 1998. The apex court's order on July 7 asked the administration to complete the process within four weeks.

The families of the priests of the main temple are called bordeuris and the head priest doloi. The battle over possession of properties in Kamakhya temple, one of the 51 Shaktipeethas, had reached court in 2000. The Samaj had challenged the legality of the board, which had "forcefully" taken control of the temple management from it in 1998. The apex court, after hearing a writ appeal by the board challenging an order of Gauhati High Court in 2011 for transfer of properties from the board to Bordeori Samaj, had upheld the high court ruling on July 7 this year.

The affidavit submitted by Sarma alleged that Bordeuris had forcefully entered the board's office on December 30, 2011, locked it and burnt papers and files. "They (Bordeuris), including Kabindra Prasad Sarma, who was subsequently elected doloi, had occupied the temple till February 8, 2012, when the Supreme Court issued an interim order in our favour. But the doloi (Kabindra Sarma) and his accomplices had decamped with all money, valuables and offerings," said the affidavit.

Kabindra Sarma denied the allegations and said, "They had forcefully taken over all properties from us. They are making such allegations as they are in a tight spot after the Supreme Court judgment."

The affidavit also said they had been submitting its accounts to the deputy commissioner since February 2012 but Saharia said it did not include the detailed statement of accounts.

Thousands of pilgrims visit Kamakhya temple daily and the number goes up to lakhs during the annual Ambubachi mela in June.