Opinion February 7, 1985, Forty Years Ago: Priestly Mediation

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on February 07, 1985.

February 7, 2025 06:59 AM IST First published on: Feb 7, 2025 at 06:59 AM IST

The five Sikh high priests are prepared to play the role of “mediators” between the government and Akalis to find a solution to the Punjab problem. The jathedar of the Akal Takht, Giani Kirpal Singh, said that in case the government was “serious” about settling the issue, then all senior Akali leaders, now under detention in different jails, “must be released to create a congenial atmosphere”.

Riot Inquiry

The new bench of the Delhi High Court before which the writ petition of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties and the People’s Union for Democratic Rights was posted found it difficult to order an inquiry into the November riots in Delhi as sought in the petition. Justice Yogeshwar Dayal said that the matter was essentially political. Justice B N Kirpal said, “These are delicate matters, would it be prudent for the court to interfere in this?”

Old Vs Young

The old guard in the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has run into fairly deep trouble following the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha election. The younger leaders of the party are believed to have decided to ask the senior CPM leaders to quit key posts in the party’s interests. The younger group is in fact demanding that Jyoti Basu should quit as Chief Minister of West Bengal and take over as the general secretary of the state party.

Tax Loophole

The Delhi Municipal Corporation will “levy” house tax but will not “collect” the tax from properties whose rateable value is less than Rs 1,000. The civic body found itself in a fix when it passed the ruling Congress-I party’s resolution last year that properties whose rateable value is Rs 1000 will be exempt from house tax because under Section 177 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, the corporation is not empowered to exempt properties from levy of property tax.

# Akal Takht