Bhubaneswar: Senior advocate Pitambar Acharya, who fought the case for the reopening of the Jagannath Temple’s Ratna Bhandar, was Friday appointed the new Advocate General of Odisha.
Acharya, 59, had contested the 2019 Assembly elections as the BJP candidate against then-chief minister Naveen Patnaik in the Hinjili seat.
“In pursuance of Clause (1) of Article 165 of the Constitution of India, the Governor of Odisha is pleased to appoint Sri Pitambar Acharya, Senior Advocate, High Court of Orissa to be the Advocate General of the State of Odisha with immediate effect,” a notification said.
Acharya was the advocate of former BJP state president Samir Mohanty who filed a petition in the high court, seeking the reopening of Ratna Bhandar of the Jagannath temple in Puri.
Acharya also worked as a journalist in an English daily for some time.
He joined politics during his college days with the Congress-affiliated NSUI. He was the students’ union president of the BJB College in 1984 and also headed the students’ union of the Utkal University Law College in 1987.
He joined the Orissa High Court Bar Association in 1991 and was also the assistant to former advocate general Gangadhar Rath under the Congress government in the state.
PTI
