E-Paper
Op Bluestar ₹1,000 crore damage suit: Fearing backlash, SGPC changes tack on out-of-court settlement with Centre
The SGPC has instead decided to resume the legal battle in the lawsuit filed in Delhi high court in 1985 during tenure of its then president Gurcharan Tohra
Apprehending a strong reaction from the Sikh community, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has decided not to go for an out-of-court settlement with the central government in the case of ₹1,000-crore damage suit related to Operation Bluestar.
The SGPC has instead decided to resume the legal battle in the lawsuit that was filed in the Delhi high court in March 1985 during the tenure of then gurdwara body president Gurcharan Singh Tohra.
On the court’s order, both sides — the Centre and SGPC — were ready to resolve the dispute out of court in 2019, even as no meeting has been held in this regard so far. The decision to comply with the court was taken during the tenure of then chief Gobind Singh Longowal.
The current office-bearers were also thinking to take forward the decision, but some Sikh sections disapproved of the move after the matter became public through media reports.
“A sub-committee constituted to work on the legal aspects of the case has not submitted its report yet. We told them (committee) that we are going to contest the case,” said SGPC president Jagir Kaur while speaking to HT.
The SGPC represents the community and is answerable to it, she said, adding, “We will not strike any compromise till the central government is put in the dock and is held guilty by the judiciary.”
The sub-committee has also been asked to prepare a list of valuable items allegedly taken away by the army from the Sikh Reference Library and other places in the Golden Temple complex.
The military action carried out in June 1984 to flush Sikh militants out from the Golden Temple had damaged the buildings of the Akal Takht and Teja Singh Samundri Hall, the SGPC headquarters, besides the main shrine complex.
