Chandigarh, August 23 – The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) – Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today demanded the arrest of both Justice Ranjit Singh and Punjab cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa for fabricating evidence and leaking a top secret document before its submission to the Vidhan Sabha 

 In a resolution to Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rana K P Singh, the two parties also demanded the immediate dismissal of the minister for his part in the criminal leakage of the report. It further requested the Speaker to impress upon the Vidhan Sabha to approach the Supreme Court to get a sitting judge appointed to probe all cases of sacrilege in Punjab pertaining to Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Bhagwad Geeta and Koran Sharif. It said this was important as Justice Ranjit Singh had as a  former judge of the high court created false evidence while probing incidents of sacrilege. 

The Resolution said that the Khalsa Panth was shocked by the “blasphemous irreverence shown by Justice Ranjit Singh Retd with his recommendations that the holy “Angs” of Shri Guru Granth Sahib should not have been kept in a Gurdwara and implying that these should have been treated by the police “as case property to be kept in a maalkhana. Ranjit Singh is guilty of an outrageous act of sacrilege. No one can believe that a Sikh can make such ssacrilegious suggestions.”     

The Resolution also came down heavily against   Justice Ranjit Singh for “trying to question the very existence of the august Sikh institutions including Sri Akal Takhat Sahib and deliberately trying to lower the dignity of these institutions by launching a Congress-inspired tirade against those in the service of these institutions.

The SAD-BJP legislators also submitted a notice for breach of privilege motion to the Speaker and urged him to take prompt action against all those who could have leaked the Ranjit Commission report including Ranjit Singh himself besides politicians Sukhjinder Randhawa and Sukhpal Khaira. They said Ranjit Singh had not only leaked the report but also shared fabricated evidence with Sukhjinder Randhawa and Sukhpal Khaira who had disseminated the same to others.

Giving details of the case, the SAD-BJP delegation apprised the Speaker that the alliance had rejected the Commission and also highlighted how Justice (retd) Ranjit Singh was not only a close personal friend of chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh but also brother in law of AAP leader Sukhpal Khaira. The delegation members said Ranjit Singh had instead of recusing himself from the Commission gone beyond the terms of reference to conspire to weaken the SAD, Sikh panth as well as its hallowed institutions including Sri Akal Takth and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). This, the delegation members said, was in line with the Congress party’s time honoured policy of divide and rule.

The delegation members said retired judge Ranjit Singh had in his report attacked Sri Akal Takth and prepared false statements of self-created witnesses to prove that in the Sikh Gurdwara Act there was no post of Jathedar, Sri Akal Takth. They said similarly Ranjit indulged in pure mischief by going in for character assassination of duly appointed Jathedars by the SGPC and giving credence to the bogus Jathedars who were propped up by the Congress party. They said Ranjit had even given recognition to the so called congregation supported by the Congress and AAP parties at Chhaba in Tarn Taran.

Telling the Speaker that all these issues were a direct interference in Sikh affairs and that Ranjit Singh had breached the terms of reference of the Inquiry Commission he was heading, they said Ranjit had even tried to defame five times chief minister S Parkash Singh Badal and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal by fabricating evidence against them. They said Himmat Singh, who was shown as witness by the Commission, had detailed recently how he was made to sign a Punjabi statement written by Sukhjinder Randhawa through coercive means and that Ranjit Singh had made him sign a statement written in English, a language which he did not know. They said Himmat had also demanded narco-analysis and lie detector test of both Ranjit Singh and Randhawa besides stating his life was in danger at the hands of the Cabinet minister.

The delegation said chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh had during assembly elections as PCC president accused the SAD of being behind incidents of sacrilege and stated that he would get the same inquired and punish the SAD for the same. It said PCC president Sunil Jakhar had also made similar assertions recently.

Urging the Speaker to act in this matter immediately, the delegation members said the dignity of the Vidhan Sabha was being compromised by such acts which had even lowered the image of the judiciary. The members urged the Speaker to take strict action or else people would lose faith in the Vidhan Sabha.

The delegation members included Bikram Singh Majithia, Som Parkash, Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, N K Sharma, Lakhbir Singh Lodhinangal, Dilraj Singh Bhundar, Baldev Khara, Dr Sukhwinder Sukhi, Gurpartap Singh Wadala, Kanwarjit Singh Barkandi, and Harinderpal Chandumajra.