Govt waits for Centre’s move

The SAD has been harping on the fact that the Congress has always treated Sikhs and Punjab in a step-motherly fashion and tried to interfere in the religious issues of the Sikhs. For instance,SGPC elections have never been held on time,as it was formed by a central act of the Parliament and elections have to be notified by the Centre. This time too,the polls scheduled for 2009,were held in 2011.

Earlier,terming it as “premature”,the Punjab and Haryana High Court had dismissed a petition moved by the SGPC in which it had sought action against senior lawyer Harbhagwan Singh for making a “false statement on behalf of the central government” in the court.

On September 1,Singh had stated that the Centre has withdrawn a notification which denies voting rights to Sehajdhari Sikhs in SGPC elections. “If the Union government does not challenge this verdict in the SC,then the intentions of the government will be clear that from day one,they were trying to stall SGPC polls in order to interfere in the affairs of the Sikhs. This can become major issue in the coming Assembly elections. Union Minister of State for External Affairs Parneet Kaur,wife of former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh,had recommended the name of Harbhagwan Singh for this case,” said Harcharan Bains,media adviser to CM.

Following the SGPC elections,members have been sworn in. The first meeting of the newly elected SGPC has been held in Amritsar and 15 members have been coopted by the elected members. These procedures have been recorded and sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) so that it can issue a notification. Once the notification is issued,the members will elect the executive of the SGPC along with its president.

O S Batalvi,counsel for the Centre in this case,said: “We are yet to get the signed orders from the court. We will study these and then only deliberate with the MHA on what action can be taken and act accordingly.”