Amritsar, January 4
The much-hyped election of the Chief Khalsa Diwan (CKD) could not be held here today amid utter confusion that had already rocked the oldest Sikh institute. The CKD came into being much before the formation of SGPC.
The warring groups of CKD have put Jathedar Akal Takht Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti in a fix as their counsels had dragged the matter related to the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs to the court. While a group led by Mr Bhag Singh Ankhi had submitted at least four directives in the court, the rival group led by Mr Charanjit Singh Chadha had stated in the court that Akal Takht was in no way involved in the process of elections as CKD is being run independently under its own constitution.
Earlier, both the groups had given undertakings to Jathedar Vedanti that they were fully dedicated to Akal Takht and any directive given by him would be binding on them. Hence, a sub committee constituted by Akal Takht had postponed the election indefinitely. Though Jathedar of Akal Takht had directed the warring groups to desist from approaching the court yet the battle for acquiring the control of CKD is being fought in the district court here. This is for the first time that the fair name of Akal Takht is being dragged in the court to settle scores by the warring factions of CKD.
The ad-interim orders of Civil Judge (senior division) Kishore Kumar who had allowed 284 expelled members of the CKD to exercise their franchise, however, have been rendered irrelevant as the elections could not take place today. Now the defendants would file their reply in the court by January 9 as directed by the Civil Judge.
Meanwhile, as many as 80 Sikh personalities belonging to ‘Chadda’ group had submitted a written request to Jathedar Akal Takht for restoring the voting rights of 284 expelled members. The Chadha group had described expelling of 284 members as ‘unconstitutional’. The signatories to the written petition, included Mr Rajmohinder Singh Majitha, a Member Parliament of Shiromani Akali Dal, Dr Harbhajan Singh Soch, a former Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University, Giani Mohinder Singh, a former secretary of the SGPC, Mr B.S. Dhillon, an SGPC member and Mr Manjit Singh Tarn Tarni, a former secretary of Shiromani Akali Dal. They pleaded that allowing 284 members to exercise their franchise would solve the problem and Akal Takht should give directions in this regard.
