Sacrilege: CM alone can order arrest of guilty, says Navjot Sidhu

Chandigarh, April 19

Days after Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu accused his government of cheating people of the state by failing to punish those involved in the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib, he has targeted the CM who also holds the portfolio of the Home Department.

In a reply to former AAP Dakha MLA HS Phoolka, who had asked Sidhu to take action as justice had not been done in the 2015 sacrilege incidents, the former Cabinet minister said there was need to shake those who had the executive power of the state, especially the CM-cum-Home Minister.

Sidhu said according to the Constitution, only the Home Minister could give political order regarding arrest of the perpetrators of the sacrilege and subsequent police firing.

“While being a minister for 27 months, I raised my voice in the Cabinet against the delay in taking action against the perpetrators of the crime. In 2019, while campaigning for the Congress, I again demanded that those behind the crime should be given exemplary punishment. Because of that, my ministry was changed from the Cabinet and I resigned,” said Sidhu, adding that nothing would be achieved by calling the Vidhan Sabha session because it was only in the hands of the Home Minister of the state. — TNS