New Delhi, Sept 2: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today saw a “conspiracy” in a former Advocate General's statement before Punjab and Haryana High Court about the Centre withdrawing the 2003 notification on SGPC polls and demanded a CBI probe into it.
“There is some conspiracy and it must come out,” said Badal, who was here today to meet Home Minister P Chidambaram and senior BJP leader L K Advani in the wake of reports of cancellation of SGPC polls.
Talking to reporters outside Parliament, he alleged the move was a conspiracy hatched by Punjab Congress leaders, who are always trying to interfere in the religious affairs of Sikhs.
“The move of misinforming the court on SGPC polls would have harmed the Panth and community a lot,” said Badal. Badal alleged that Punjab Congress leader Capt Amarinder Singh and DSGMC president Paramjit Singh Sarna were hand-in-glove with former Punjab Advocate General Harbhagwan Singh. “He misinformed the High Court that the Centre had withdrawn the 2003 notification, even without instructions from the Home Ministry,” said Badal.
“The Home Minister has informed today that no one authorised the advocate to say anything about the notification on behalf of the Centre. The notification is there and SGPC elections will be held in time, the Centre has clarified today,” he said.
Badal said this amounted to a “fraud” with the High Court as well as the Sikh community and this should not be tolerated and the guilty should be punished.
Badal said the nominations and withdrawals for the SGPC polls have already taken place and there was no reason for cancellation of the SGPC polls now.
“There is a wave in favour of the ruling SAD, and these polls would have a bearing on the forthcoming assembly polls. Seven SAD candidates have already won unopposed. The state Congress is scared and that is why it did this drama,” he alleged.
Badal said he has again written to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention in helping grant clemency to Davinder Singh Bhullar. “It is a religious matter of Sikhs and I will be meeting the Prime Minister again.”
Chidambaram today said in Rajya Sabha that the government has not withdrawn a 2003 notification preventing Sehajdhari or non-baptised Sikhs from participating in the elections to the SGPC and the polls would take place as scheduled. He said, “Neither the Ministry of Law nor the Ministry of Home Affairs had given a vakalatnama to Harbhagwan Singh. No one from the government had briefed him. In particular, he had no authority to make the statement that the notification dated October 8, 2003 would be withdrawn.”
“Government also wishes to make it clear that there is no proposal to rescind or withdraw the notification,” he said, adding, “Government will bring the above facts to the notice of the High Court”. PTI
