Former SGPC chief demands probe into all land deals of Sikh body

PATIALA: Not letting the controversy kicked off by the termination of over 500 Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) employees die down, former chief of the Sikh body Prof Kirpal Singh Badungar on Friday demanded a probe into all land purchases made during the previous SGPC president by a judicial panel.
Calling the decision arbitrary and against natural justice and principals of the Khalsa Panth, Badungar reiterated his demand for a judicial probe into the termination of the services of the 523 employees recruited in various institutions run by the apex gurudwara management body during his tenure.

He said the ambit of the judicial probe should be expanded and all land purchases made during the tenures of other SGPC chiefs should also be probed.

Badungar, who has been upset over the termination of these employees, which reflected that appointments made during his tenure had been in violation of the rules, said all these Sikhs hailed from poor families and jobs were given to them to help them sustain a living. He claimed the SGPC had been formed with the prime motive of spreading teachings of Sikh Gurus and to help the community members during their times of distress. “It was on this principle that these appointments had been made which were completely as per the rules of the SGPC. By removing these employees the incumbent chief of the SGPC has deprived more than 500 Sikh families of their livelihoods,” Badungar said.

Badungar said the SGPC has so far not defined as to which rules had been violated while making these appointments.

“The SGPC should have screened if the jobs given were as per the qualification of the appointees. In case extra employees had been recruited at one particular institution, the SGPC could have rationalised by transferring these employees to other institutions,” Badungar contended. He said there were widows and women abandoned by their families who had been given jobs so that they could take care of their children.

“This is a totally one-sided decision and against the principals of the Khalsa Panth which had always worked to help those in need,” he said.