The Akal Takht has responded to a letter from Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami regarding the investigation into the alleged disappearance of 328 sacred ‘saroops’ (copies) of Guru Granth Sahib, advising the apex gurdwara body not to provide records unrelated to the case to the special investigation team (SIT) probing the case.
Dhami had approached the Akal Takht after the SIT allegedly sought information beyond the scope of the investigation, including details of the SGPC’s bank accounts, financial transactions, balance sheets and agreements with private television channels for Gurbani telecast.
According to people familiar with the matter, Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, in his response, stated that the SGPC is an autonomous body and no state agency has the authority to seek records or information unrelated to the matter under investigation. He reportedly told the SGPC that it need not share such details with the SIT.
In a letter to the acting jathedar, Dhami had said that the SGPC had fully cooperated with the SIT, constituted by the Punjab government to probe the case of the 328 missing sacred “birs” of Guru Granth Sahib, and had provided all records sought in connection with the investigation.
“Now, in the letters received, the SIT is seeking different kinds of information related to the SGPC’s internal administrative affairs, such as details of all bank accounts, transactions, balance sheets, accounts and agreements signed with private channels for Gurbani telecast. This information has no relation to the case of the 328 sacred saroops,” Dhami wrote.
{{/usCountry}}“Now, in the letters received, the SIT is seeking different kinds of information related to the SGPC’s internal administrative affairs, such as details of all bank accounts, transactions, balance sheets, accounts and agreements signed with private channels for Gurbani telecast. This information has no relation to the case of the 328 sacred saroops,” Dhami wrote.
{{/usCountry}}The SGPC and the SIT have been at loggerheads over the probe. The SIT recently informed the Punjab and Haryana high court that the SGPC was not cooperating with the investigation into alleged irregularities in the records of saroops at the SGPC-run publishing house.
Since 2012, Gurbani broadcast rights from the Golden Temple had been held by G-Next Media Pvt Ltd, which operates the PTC channel. Though the agreement expired in July 2023, PTC continues to telecast Gurbani live at the SGPC’s request, while the SGPC simultaneously streams it on its official YouTube channel.
The matter had earlier triggered political controversy, leading to the passage of the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, by the Punjab Assembly to facilitate free-to-air telecast of Gurbani.