Denied permission to meet Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) leaders Gurdeep Singh Gosha and Jaswinder Singh Baliawal in a separate room of the central jail here, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Paramjit Singh Sarna refused to meet the duo in the visitor's gallery on Wednesday.
Gosha, state president of the SAD (Delhi) youth wing, Baliawal, state president of the party, and four others had been taken into preventive custody on March 28 when they were seeking clemency for Balwant Singh Rajoana, who is on death row in former chief minister Beant Singh's assassination case. Later, the detained activists and leaders had been remanded in judicial custody, which has been extended till April 9.
Sarna had requested the jail authorities to allow him to meet Baliawal and Gosha in a separate room. But the request was turned down and Sarna told to follow the norms.
Lodging a protest against the SAD-BJP government, Sarna said, "If Punjab ministers and officials can meet convicted SAD leader Bibi Jagir Kaur in jail for hours, why can't I meet my associates who are on judicial remand?"
"There should be one yardstick for all. The SAD-BJP government is defying the democratic set-up at every step," Sarna alleged.
{{/usCountry}}"There should be one yardstick for all. The SAD-BJP government is defying the democratic set-up at every step," Sarna alleged.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier in the day, Sarna handed over a memorandum to Punjab governor Shivraj Patil in Chandigarh, demanding 'immediate release' of detained leaders and activists of Panthic organisations. Sarna said the detainees were just abiding by the Akal Takht directive, adding that, "Had they not participated in the protest, they would have been summoned by the Takht."