AMRITSAR: Accusing former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and deputy Sukhbir Badal of shielding chief of Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh during 10 years of their regime in Punjab, cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has approached Sikh’s supreme temporal seat Akal Takht seeking excommunication of father-son duo from Sikh Panth.In his “personal capacity as a Sikh”, Sidhu went to Akal Takht secretariat on Friday morning and submitted a four-page memorandum written on plain paper to the staff there in absence of Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh.Later, talking to mediapersons, along with Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar, he accused Badals of allegedly striking a deal with the Sirsa dera in exchange of its followers’ support for Lok Sabha and assembly elections.“We have to review the turnout of events of past 11 years involving Badals, Dera chief and Akal Takht to reach to the bottom of truth,” he said, adding that he had evidence to prove his claims that Badals not only allegedly shielded Gurmeet but also got him pardoned using their influence on Akal Takht jathedar.Punjab Police had registered a case against Gurmeet in 2007 but no action was taken against him said Sidhu. The police even failed to file a chargesheet against him, the minister said.Sidhu alleged that Badal Sr ‘summoned’ jathedar to his official residence in Chandigarh and pressurized him to pardon Gurmeet and as a consequence, the dera chief was pardoned a day before the release of his movie MSG 2.“Under these circumstances, it becomes all the more necessary that Badals should be excommunicated from Sikh panth so no one dares in future to undermine the significance of Akal Takht,” said Sidhu.When asked if he expected jathedar, who was appointment by SAD-controlled SGPC, would act on his memorandum, he replied that he had done his duty to bring forth the truth and now the jathedar had to deliver the justice.Sidhu chose not to reply on the reopening of road rage case by the Supreme Court. “The matter is sub judice,” was all he said.Calling Sukhbir Badal, Sukhbir Singh Insan, Jakhar hailed Sidhu’s bold initiative for bringing the case of Badals to Akal Takht. Alleging that the “protector himself had been abusing the law and religious authority”, he said Navjot’s act of approaching at Akal Takht seeking religious punishment for Badals would serve as a balm on the hurt feelings of Sikhs, including many in SAD.

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