Shillong’s Punjabi Lane Dispute: High Court Grants Temporary Relief to Sikhs till February 15

SHILLONG, Meghalaya—While conducting hearing on a petition moved by the Sikhs living in Harijan colony of the Punjabi lane area of Shillong, the Meghalaya High Court on December 24 granted relief to the victim Sikhs till February 15. Notably, the Panchayat Committee of Sikhs living in the Punjabi lane area had moved a petition W.P ( C ) No. 218 of 2018 in the Meghalaya High Court against their forced evacuation by the Meghalaya state government.

Sikh24 has learnt that Advocate N. Benipal and Advocate H.S Hora represented the Shillong Sikhs before the High Court bench of Justice S.R Sain while the Meghalaya’s Advocate General along with three other lawyers represented the Meghalaya state government before the Court. As the Meghalaya state government’s lawyers failed to produce an affidavit in reply to the petitioners, the High Court deferred next hearing onto February 15 while ordering the Meghalaya state government to maintain status quo till that time.

It has also come to fore that the Deputy Chief Minister of Maghalaya Prestone Tynsong, who also heads the High Level Committee appointed by the Maghalaya state government to displace Sikhs from Shillong’s Punjab lane area, has started targeting the representative of Harijan Panchayat Committee Gurjit Singh. Tysong has accused Gurjit Singh of misguiding the public.