SGPC President ignorant about Rs 1000 crore compensation status it filed with central govt

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SGPC President ignorant about Rs 1000 crore compensation status it filed with central govt

Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in/ Chandigarh

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Gobind Singh Longowal is still unclear about the status of one of the major case, filed by them, for Rs 1000 crore compensation, against the central government. Still he is saying “i will enquire about the latest update from our advocate, on the Centre’s offer for an out-of-court settlement in the Rs. 1,000 crore damage suit filed in the High Court of Delhi for carrying out the Operation Bluestar at the Golden Temple in 1984, as he is not aware about the latest updates, due to Covid 19 pandemic and lockdown.” Earlier few days ago, he gave the same statement at Amritsar and he is still not updated himself.

The correspondence between the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and Central government, to arrange the meeting, was initiated as per orders of the Delhi High Court after a hearing on December 4, 2019, but it was put on hold due to the pandemic outbreak. The next hearing of the case in May was also adjourned. The President still don’t know the next date of hearing, any new development in this important case.

Case history

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandik Committee (SGPC) had filed a compensation amount to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore, as damages sustained to various SGPC properties in the Golden Temple complex as well as in 36 other shrines in Punjab administered by the religious body in June 1984 when Operation Bluestar was launched by the army to flush out armed militants from inside the Golden Temple, in 2013, after 29 years of the Bluestar Operation. The required court fee, amounting to Rs 10 crore, was deposited with the Delhi high court, where the case had been filed.

Earlier also, the petition seeking compensation was filed in 1986 by the SGPC in an Amritsar court in 1986. Due to the disturbed conditions in Punjab, the central government got the case shifted to the Delhi high court and both the petitions were clubbed together by the court. In the petition, the central government , the Punjab government along with others were made parties by the SGPC.

THE COMPENSATION LIST

The library and toshakhana (treasury) of the Golden Temple were among the many structures that suffered severe damage in the military operation.

According to a list prepared by the SGPC, a chandoa (a diamond-encrusted piece of cloth hung over the Guru Granth Sahib) gifted by the Nizam of Hyderabad to Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the early nineteenth century was charred in the violence. The cost of the artefact was pegged at ~ 200 crore.

Among the other damaged articles were at least 2,500 handwritten birs (holy books) of the Guru Granth Sahib from the times of Guru Arjan Dev and Guru Gobind Singh; a sehra (ornament worn on the forehead) belonging to Sikh ruler Naunihal Singh from the early 1800s; a gold jhallar (wall decoration) and a bunch of gold keys donated to the Golden Temple by Maharaja Ranjit Singh; 25 pencil sketches harking back to the age of the Sikh gurus; a handwritten gurbani (hymn book) of great religious and historic importance; an 11th Century Gita; and 50 miniature paintings from the same era.

The SGPC claims that the Akal Takht, which was hit by mortar shells during Operation Bluestar, was destroyed beyond repair. The list produced by the committee also cites the damage caused to other buildings – such as the Darshani Deori and the Teja Singh Samundari Hall – due to military action. Submissions to the court include news articles on Operation Bluestar and photographs of damaged buildings as well as bullet marks on sacred structures.

Today the President was in Patiala’s Gurudwara Dukhniwaran Sahib to pay obeisance on the first day of opening of shrines by the central government, after lockdown, caused due to Covid 19 pandemic.He also flagged off 200 quintal lintels (Dal) donated by senior Akali Dal leader Surjit Singh Rakhra and his family, to various Gurudwaras, for langar (community kitchen).

June,8,2020