E-Paper
Services of Takht Patna Sahib jathedar Giani Ranjit Singh terminated amid corruption charges
In a letter issued to the jathedar, committee president Avtar Singh Hit said, “For last some days, your name is also being attached to the embezzlement of the money donated by Gurwinder Singh Samra. Keeping in view of these reports, maryada of Takht and religious sentiments of the Sikh devotees have got hurt. A five-member committee has also been constituted to probe the matter”.
The managing committee has terminated the services of Takht Patna Sahib jathedar Giani Ranjit Singh in view of the corruption charges being faced by him and the controversies courted by him during his tenure.
In a letter issued to the jathedar, committee president Avtar Singh Hit said, “For last some days, your name is also being attached to the embezzlement of the money donated by Gurwinder Singh Samra. Keeping in view of these reports, maryada of Takht and religious sentiments of the Sikh devotees have got hurt. A five-member committee has also been constituted to probe the matter”.
“Besides, Panj Pyaras (five beloved ones of Guru) while lodging protest, also demanded your services be terminated and facilities be stopped in view of the allegations leveled by Samra against you. In view of this, your services are terminated and your facilities and posts are revoked with immediate effect. These services or facilities will not be reinstated till you are acquitted in this case. You are directed to not use any post given to you at the Takht”, he added.
After removal of controversial jathedar Giani Iqbal Singh, he was appointed as jathedar of one of the five Sikh temporal seats in September 2019. However, Giani Ranjit Singh’s tenure has also remained controversial. He also stirred row by altering maryada of the Takht. He was among the Sikh delegation who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence.
Decision of his termination was taken on Sunday. Hours after his termination, he approached Punjab based senior BJP leader Harjit Singh Grewal. The BJP leader disclosed this information on his Facebook handle.The terminated jathedar was not available over phone for version.
