CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) dismissed Jathedar (High Priest) of Takht Damdama Sahib, Giani Harpreet Singh from service.
He was dismissed after the executive committee of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee accepted the report of the investigation panel formed in this regard.
Sharing information over it, SGPC secretary Partap Singh said that this decision has been taken 'unanimously' based on the report of the investigation panel.
"Only three members registered their dissenting note in this regard, while the remaining members of the SGPC executive committee who attended the meeting agreed to the dismissal of Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh," he said.
He also added that the investigation has proven the allegations against Singh and the action has been taken by the executive committee in regards to the honour and dignity of the Takht that has been hurt.
Three SGPC executive members Paramjit Singh Raipur, Jaswant Singh Purain, and Amrik Singh walked out of the meeting in protest, allegeing that the decision was politically motivated.
They claimed that the majority of executive members belonging to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) influenced the decision. Partap Singh said that the executive committee has for the time being assigned the services of the Jathedar to Giani Jagtar Singh, the Head Granthi of Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, in place of Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh.
On December 16 last year, a complaint was filed by Gurpreet Singh of Muktsar in which he alleged misconduct by Giani Harpreet Singh.
An SGPC panel, comprising senior vice-president Raghujit Singh Virk, general secretary Sher Singh Mandwala and executive member Daljit Singh Bhinder was formed to investigate the allegations.
Singh’s services were initially suspended for a fortnight, which was later extended for a month. The SGPC panel’s report found him guilty of the allegations, leading to his termination.
Singh had earlier said that he might be dismissed from service and Akali Dal did not want to comply with the decision of Akal Takht which was issued on December 2 last year for party reorganisation.
Along with this, in the executive meeting, a decision was also made to provide financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the family of Satnam Singh, who died of a fall while performing service of Nishan Sahib’s attire at Gurdwara Sri Kandh Sahib in Batala.
Apart from this, matters related to various Gurdwaras, educational institutions, trust departments and other works related to the SGPC were discussed and simplified.