A rift has come to the fore in Takht Patna Sahib management board after the board’s general secretary Mohinderpal Singh Dhillon on Monday rejected resignation of Giani Iqbal Singh from the post of jathedar of the Takht.

Three days after Akal Takht formed a seven-member panel to probe allegations of moral turpitude against him, Giani Singh on Sunday stepped down as the jathedar and he sent resignation to the general secretary, considered close to him as per sources.

In a letter to Singh, Dhillon said that sangat of Bihar and other parts of the world wants Giani Iqbal Singh to continue to serve as the jathedar. “Keeping in view of sentiments of sangat, your resignation has not been accepted by the board. We request you to continue your services,” he stated in the letter.

Giani Iqbal Singh could not be reached out for his comments.

However, many office bearers were adamant to accept his resignation and a meeting has been called on Tuesday by president Avtar Singh Hit to decide further course of action. Hit said Dhillon alone cannot take decision and only the board can take the decision. He said a meeting will be held to discuss the allegations against Singh and action to be taken in this regard. He said they have majority in 15-member board.

He said the board will take action on the basis of the report of the panel constituted by Akal Takht to probe the allegation. The allegations were levelled by Hit and Kammikar Singh, who is also member of the board in separate complaints lodged to Akal Takht.

Akal Takht jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said the panel had submitted the report, but he was yet to go through it. Hit said that they were also yet to get the copy of the report. Members of the panel are Baba Harnam Singh, Baba Sewa Singh Khadoor Sahib, SGPC members advocate Bhagwant Singh and Rajinder Singh , Nirmal Singh, Inderjit Singh Gogoani and Inderjit Singh from the Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle. One of the members on anonymity said that they have approached Giani Iqbal Singh on Sunday regarding the allegations against him. “He, however, did not answer our questions as he has already stepped down as the jathedar,” he added.

First Published: Mar 05, 2019 16:06 IST