Akal Takht forms 2-member panel to probe missing ‘saroops’ of Guru Granth Sahib

Tribune News Service
Amritsar, July 17

To inquire into the case of missing 267 ‘saroops’ of Guru Granth Sahib, Akal Takht has appointed retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Navita Singh. An advocate of the Telangana High Court, Ishar Singh, will assist her in the probe.

Akal Takht’s officiating Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said the panel would conduct a thorough probe and report within a month. The next course of action would be taken accordingly. Serving or retired SGPC officials and intellectuals would also offer their services in the investigation, if a need arose.

“There was great resentment among the Sikh community after the incident of missing ‘saroops’ surfaced. Many queries were received from all over the world. To reveal the truth and for an unbiased inquiry, a panel has been constituted,” he said.

On July 14, on the directions of Giani Harpreet Singh, the Akal Takht Secretariat’s team had sealed the records from April 1, 2015, to date, from the publication department at Gurdwara Ramsar Sahib, the designated place to publish and store holy books.

SGPC’s superviser (publication department) Kanwaljit Singh, upon his retirement on May 31, had revealed about the missing ‘saroops’ in the records. He had claimed that around 80 ‘saroops’ were destroyed during an accidental fire incident on May 19, 2016.

Meanwhile, Giani Harpreet Singh said soon, a digital platform would be introduced which would help connect the Sikh community to the vision and principles of Guru Granth Sahib and caution against the forces which try to divide the community for vested interests.

He said a committee comprising Sikh intellectuals would be constituted which would help the needy Sikh youth, widows, farmers, labourers, shopkeepers and those belonging to deprived sections.