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Delhi court orders FIR against gurdwara committee head, says allegations ‘serious in nature’
Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Manjinder Singh Sirsa and other persons will be investigated for the misappropriation of funds
A Delhi court on November 7 directed the registration of an FIR against Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Manjinder Singh Sirsa and other unknown persons in the agency for the misappropriation of funds while Sirsa was the general secretary. The court said that the allegations levelled against Sirsa and other members of the DSGMC are “serious in nature”.
Additional chief metropolitan magistrate Dhirendra Rana said that the bills submitted to the court do not bear the signatures of anyone from the DSGMC.
The judge also said that the role of the then president also requires investigation to check why he had claimed payment on such bills.
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It is a matter of investigation as to who approved these bills and how, the court said, adding the bills “are looking fictitious prima facie”, while directing the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Economics Offences Wing (EOW), to look into the matter and give the court a copy of the FIR on the next date of hearing, i.e, November 21.
The court’s order came after a Sikh devotee, who is also a stakeholder in the funds received by the DSGMC, lodged a complaint. The plea by one Bhupinder Singh had contended that Sirsa had caused loss of public funds to the tune of Rs 65,99,729 by showing sham transactions with various entities without any actual goods or services being provided.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday had demanded that Sirsa be suspended as the president of DSGMC.
While addressing a press conference on Monday, AAP leader Jarnail Singh said, “It hurts to see the insult of the treasury of the Gurdwara because whenever a devotee puts money in the Gurdwara treasury, they expect that the money will be used for a noble cause such as langars or schools or hospitals under DSGMC. But the court order from November 7 is a living example of the misuse of the money that has been happening for the last few years.”
When contacted, Sirsa said, “There are no allegations against me. The court has said that payments should be investigated to ascertain whether there are proper bills available or not. The bills were approved by the then president Manjit Singh GK and not by me.”
Manjit Singh GK, former DSGMC president, denied his role and said that Sirsa was trying to mislead everyone. “The court has named Sirsa and asked for an FIR to be registered in his name. I have evidence that he had got the payments made under his signatures for erecting tents at the homes of top Akali leaders. As per the DSGMC Act 1971, that governs the working of Gurdwara committee, the general secretary is the administrative head as he is in charge of accounts, purchase and personal matters.”
“Everyone wants to take political advantage of the situation, especially when the DSGMC is heading for the polls. The law will take its course. AAP MLA (Jarnail Singh) should not be too keen to comment as matter is in the jurisdiction of the court,” said SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema.
