Amritsar, Sep 20 (PTI) The Akal Takht on Sunday expelled former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee member Amarjit Singh Chawla and additional head granthi Giani Malkit Singh from the ‘Khalsa Panth’.
The announcement came after a meeting of five Sikh head priests held at the secretariat of the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, on Sunday.
The development came days after SGPC member Chawla was booked on charges of rape, wrongful confinement and criminal intimidation in Anandpur Sahib, following a complaint by a woman. Following the registration of the FIR, Chawla resigned as SGPC member and as senior vice president of the Shiromani Akali Dal.
Chawla, however, had denied the allegations as false and fabricated.
The meeting was attended by the five Sikh head priests — Giani Kuldip Singh Gargajj, Akal Takht Jathedar, Giani Kewal Singh, priest at the Golden Temple, Gurbaksh Singh, priest at the Akal Takht, Tek Singh, Jathedar of Takht Damdama Sahib and Mangal Singh, a member of the Panj Pirara group of Akal Takht.
The Jathedar (head priest) expelled Chawla from the Sikh fold for his alleged violation of Sikh tenets.
He also directed the Sikh community to maintain distance from him and not allow him to take part in any religious activity in any of the Sikh institutions.
Giani Malkit Singh, Additional Head Granthi of Akal Takht Sahib, was also expelled from the Sikh fold.
The Jathedar also directed the Sikh community to maintain distance from him and not allow him to take part in any religious activity in any of the Sikh institutions.
Malkit, along with another person, was accused of sending vulgar messages to the woman complainant. PTI COR CHS SHS
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