Giani Harpreet elected chief of Akali Dal breakaway faction
The participants in the election were rivals of the SAD, which is led by Sukhbir Badal, son of late Parkash Singh Badal.
Both claimed to be the original Akali Dal that came into being on December 14, 1920, to free gurdwaras from the control of 'mahants'.
The election of the party was conducted following last year's edict by the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs that tasked the five-member committee to hold a membership drive for the party and subsequently hold the organisational elections.
The rivals accused Sukhbir Badal of ignoring last year's 'hukamnama' (edict) from the Akal Takht, which called for fresh membership and unity across Akali Dal factions. The Sikh high priests, then led by Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh, had directed a reorganisation of the Akali Dal and formed a seven-member committee, led by then SGPC President Harjinder Dhami, to enrol new members.
Giani Harpreet Singh, jathedar of Takht Damdama Sahib, was a signatory to the directive. However, the SAD led by Badal rejected the Takht-constituted committee and carried out its own membership drive. Later, it re-elected Sukhbir Badal as the party President in April.
Referring to last year's directive of the Akal Takht, SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema had said the directive was aimed at consolidating the SAD. He said anyone who had headed the Akal Takht couldn't compete for the post of a political party's President, indirectly hinting that the Akal Takht's former acting Jathedar couldn't become the party President.
Monday's election, held at the Gurdwara Burj Akali Phoola Singh, saw the presence of nearly 500 delegates elected from across the country under the supervision of the committee to reorganise the Akali Dal.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
4 hours ago
- NDTV
'Lawrence Bishnoi Gang Must Be Called 'Terrorist Group'': Canada MP's Demand
New Delhi: Canadian MP Frank Caputo on Monday urged Prime Minister Mark Carney and the governing Liberal Party to declare the Lawrence Bishnoi gang a 'terrorist organisation'. "Communities are being terrorised... it is time for the Liberals to act..." he said on X late last night. Mr Caputo, the Shadow Minister for Public Safety, joined a growing number of Canadian leaders who have called for action against Bishnoi's gang, which he runs from a prison cell in Gujarat. In a letter to his cabinet counterpart, Gary Anandasangaree, Mr Caputo highlighted Bishnoi's vast criminal empire and said it was guilty of assassinations and the extortion of Canadian citizens, and engaged in such illegal activities for "political, religious, and ideological reasons". "The Bishnoi gang's activities lay the groundwork for listing it as a terrorist entity. As you know, they have taken credit for vast violence in Canada and abroad," he said in the letter shared on X. BREAKING Conservatives call on the Liberals to designate the Lawrence Bishnoi Gang as a terrorist organization. Communities are being terrorized. It's time for the Liberals to act. My letter👇🏼. — Frank Caputo (@FrankCaputoKTN) August 11, 2025 "I implore you to list the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist entity to provide law enforcement and all levels of government with the tools necessary to address the gang's activities. The designation would permit a push back against the gang with financial, criminal, and property sanctions." He also pointed to similar appeals by four other Canadian politicians, including Patrick Brown, the Mayor of Brampton, home to about 20 per cent of the country's entire Sikh population. British Columbia Premier David Eby and his Alberta counterpart, Danielle Smith, as well as Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke, have also called for the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to be taken down. "... there is clear political consensus for the federal government to do so. This designation has been discussed by law enforcement officials, who see first-hand the results of the Bishnoi gang's reign of terror in the South Asian community and throughout Canada," Mr Caputo wrote. In June, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the Bishnoi gang's "violent and criminal activities... knows no boundaries and respects no borders", and demanded Mark Carney's government send "a clear message - that you (the Lawrence Bishnoi gang) are not welcome here". She said designating the Bishnoi gang as a 'terrorist entity' would 'allow provincial and municipal-level law enforcement agencies to access tools and resources needed to effectively disrupt operations...' The Canadian government has frequently named the Bishnoi gang as one of the more nefarious criminal syndicates in that country, and has also linked it to arms and drugs trafficking. Lawrence Bishnoi - who has split from Goldy Brar, an associate who ran his Canada ops - and his gang of criminals and assassins have also been linked to various murders both in India and abroad since the headline-grabbing killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala in May 2022. That list includes the December 2023 murder of Rajput leader Sukhdev Gogamedi and the October 2024 killing of Maharashtra politician Baba Siddique, as well as firing outside the home of Bollywood star Salman Khan - targeted over the 1999 blackbuck case - in April 2025. READ | Trudeau Doubles Down On Charges Amid India-Canada Diplomatic Row But it was the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a pro-Khalistani figure, in June 2023 that cemented the gang's international 'credentials'. Nijjar was a Canadian citizen and his killing sparked a diplomatic row; then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claiming - without any proof - the Indian government was involved. India trashed the charges, and accused Mr Trudeau of pandering to Khalistani terrorist vote banks. India-Canada ties nosedived as a result and are only now, after Mr Trudeau was removed, recovering. And the chorus of voices calling for action against the Bishnoi gang - something India often asked of Mr Trudeau - has been seen as a sign the Conservative is looking to push for mending of ties with India.
Hindustan Times
7 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
1984 anti-Sikh riots case: Delhi HC overturns verdict freeing 4 people, orders retrial
The Delhi High Court has overturned a 40-year-old verdict that had acquitted four individuals in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case and ordered a retrial, observing that the earlier proceedings were conducted in a 'hasty manner' and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) failed to undertake sufficient efforts to collect the evidence. The bench was acting on a plea initiated on its own to determine the correctiveness of the 1986 verdict. (Delhi HC website) The case pertained to the killing of a Sikh man in Ghaziabad's Raj Nagar area, a day after then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination. The man's wife had alleged that certain persons attacked and set her husband and her house on fire, resulting in his death. However, in May 1986, the trial court acquitted the four accused of charges of arson and murder, citing contradictions between the woman's statements to the police and in court, as well as the delay in filing the complaint. A bench of justices Subramanian Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar was acting on a petition initiated on its own to determine the correctiveness of the 1986 verdict, after it prima facie found fault in the manner of investigation and termed it as 'perfunctory.' The proceedings were initiated, after the court observed that the same was being cited in appeals filed by five individuals — including Khokhar, Captain Bhagmal, and Girdhari Lal, Mahender Yadav, Balwan's brother Krishan Khokhar— against a 2013 trial court ruling that convicted them in the murders involving five Sikhs in the same locality and neither the state nor the victims had appealed the 1986 verdict. Also Read: Delhi HC orders reconstruction of 1984 anti-Sikh riots case records to ensure fair trial The bench in its verdict delivered on Monday, observed that the trial court's erroneous decision resulted in 'miscarriage of justice to the man's wife and children and deprived them of their fundamental right to 'fair trial.' The CBI the court said in its 48-page ruling, also failed to undertake efforts for tracing the deceased's corpse coupled with the articles stolen from the house and failure to order 're investigation' 40 years after the incident, would result in turning a Nelson's eye to the society's needs and victim's rights of a 'comprehensive free and fair probe.' The judges said that trial court 'gravely erred' in concluding that there existed a contradiction in the woman's testimony, there was enough material available to impeach her testimony and the CBI while probing the matter failed to undertake 'sufficient efforts' to associate all natural witnesses during investigation, including the deceased's children who were present at the time of the incident and any neighbours. 'These errors have resulted in miscarriage of justice which is evident from the fact that a grave offence of murder and arson with communal overtones has neither been investigated properly by the Investigating Agency, nor tried in right stead by the Ld. Additional Sessions Judge. Resultantly, the victims, including the wife and children of the deceased Harbhajan Singh, have been deprived of their valuable fundamental right under Article 21 to a fair investigation and trial which if not rectified may result in a loss of hope in our legal system and compromise the interests of society,' the bench said. It added, 'As rightly stated by the Ld. Amicus Curiae, a bloodbath took place after the assassination of late Ms. Indira Gandhi, and as a result of the violence, widows, children and persons residing in the vicinity ran away for their safety and took shelter elsewhere, which naturally meant they would not have been readily available for investigation. That, however, would not absolve the Investigating Agency of its duty to make sure that the best evidence was gathered by taking recourse to the powers accorded under the CrPC, so that any gaps in the evidence could not be misused subsequently at trial by accused persons to get off the hook.' Amicus curiae and senior advocate Vivek Sood submitted that the conclusion arrived by the additional sessions judge (ASJ) while acquitting the men was totally perverse, and deserved to be set aside. He submitted that the incident resulted in large scale violence, devastation of property, and displacement of affected persons and the complainant was forced to leave Delhi following her husband's death and loss of her residence. While the counsel for the sole surviving accused, no useful purpose would be served in remanding the matter back to the Trial Court or directing any further re-investigation/fresh investigation. The court in its verdict however clarified that the retrial only pertained to the sole surviving accused and abated against the three individuals who passed away and directed the CBI to expeditiously conclude the probe, taking note of the incident's date of occurrence. The same bench in a different ruling, had also ordered the reconstruction of four-decade-old trial records in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, saying the victims' and society's right to a fair investigation and trial cannot be compromised by missing files or flawed earlier proceedings. The directive, issued to the trial court, concerns the acquittal of five men including former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar in the killing of four Sikhs in Ghaziabad's Raj Nagar.
NDTV
9 hours ago
- NDTV
Delhi High Court Orders Retrial In 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots Case
New Delhi: While dealing with five petitions connected to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots' case, initiated suo moto, the Delhi High Court on Monday highlighted lacunae in the investigation as well as in the conduct of the trial of three cases. The High Court has directed the trial court to reconstruct the records of three cases. "Efforts are required to be made on a best endeavour basis to secure such records from any sources to enable this court to finally adjudicate the present Criminal Revision Petitions," the High Court said. The trial court had acquitted all accused persons in 1986. These cases are connected with the anti sikh riots that took place in Raj Nagar area of Delhi Cantt in November 1984. These five cases came into light during an appeal of the CBI against the acquittal of former MP Sajjan Kumar in another case of Raj Nagar. The Division bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar highlighted, "Material on record further prima facie reveals several lacunae in the investigation as also the conduct of trials." "A prima facie reading of the Judgment passed by the Trial Court indicates that the Judgments are not well considered," the bench said in the judgment passed on August 11. The bench pointed out, "However, this court is not inclined to make any further comments on the tenability of the impugned Judgments at this juncture without having the benefit of perusing the records of the Sessions Cases." The High Court has directed the trial court to make efforts to construct the records of those cases. "Since the entire records are not available and without lacks vital documents, such as witnesses depositions, documents presented before the Learned Additional Sessions Judges and statements recorded under Section 161 of the CrPC, it would be impossible for this Court to proceed with further consideration of the present cases," the bench said. While dealing with these petitions, the High Court expressed its concerns for those killed 1984 violence. The High Court noted that several crucial witnesses were not examined. "Valuable lives were lost in the incidents which form the subject matter of the present cases. Several crucial witnesses, including eyewitnesses were not examined in Sessions Cases 31 and 32 of 1986 due to insufficient efforts to serve summons at addresses damaged or abandoned by witnesses in the aftermath of the incident," the bench noted in its judgements. The High Court also pointed a finger at the manner in which the investigation was carried out by the investigation agency. It also emphasised the need to look into the matters. It said, "A composite challan has been filed for several cases, prima facie reflecting a perfunctory investigation. Therefore, this court thinks that the matter cannot be left to rest at this juncture." "The valuable rights of victims and the society at large to a free and fair investigation as well as a real trial cannot be allowed to be compromised as a result of 'fait accompli" (an accomplished fact), the High Court said. It also said that it is inclined to follow the course as suggested by the top court in Abhai Raj Singh. It has directed the jurisdictional trial court for reconstruction of the records of Sessions Case 10 of 1986, Sessions Case 31 of 1986 86 and Sessions Case 32/86. The High Court said in the judgement that Several Commissions had been constituted to look into various aspects of the Sikh riots in 1984. The court also referred to the CBI probe into the murders of five Sikh persons, namely Kehar Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Raghuvinder Singh, Narender Pal Singh and Kuldeep Singh, leading to the conviction of six accused persons named in that case. Appeals are pending before the Supreme Court in this case. The high court further said that it is hopeful that records of Sessions Case 10/86, Sessions Case 31/86 and Sessions Case 32/86 may be available with the CBI, having been taken into consideration by it during the course of investigation. The high court also said that the records of these three cases may also be available as part of the Trial Court Record in the said appeals, which may be available with the Registry of the top court, having been collected during investigation by the CBI. Such records may also be available in the archives of the various Committees and commissions appointed from time to time, the high court said. The high court has listed the matter for further hearing on September 1.
