SGPC forms panel to probe marriage row

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 20

Gobind Singh Longowal, SGPC president, has set up a three-member committee to probe the Kiran Bala case. The panel has been tasked with identifying the official(s) who helped the Garhshankar (Hoshiarpur) woman visit Pakistan as part of an SGPC-sponsored jatha. It will submit its report in a week.

Sources said norms were bypassed by an SGPC official holding a managerial post while recommending Kiran’s name.

The two SGPC members from Garhshankar, Jang Bahadur Singh Rai and Bibi Ranjit Kaur, claimed they had nothing to do with Kiran’s case

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) has sought Kiran’s deportation.

PSGPC general secretary Gopal Singh Chawla told The Tribune on the phone that though the woman’s whereabouts were not known, the Pakistan authorities had been approached to deport her.

“She has brought disrepute to the pilgrimage. We don’t want a wrong precedent to be set,” he added.