CHANDIGARH, Punjab—Despite passage of three weeks after getting appointed as a Chief Gurdwara Election Commissioner, Justice (Retd.) S.S. Saron has not taken charge of his new post due to unavailability of staff. Notably, the BJP led Indian government had appointed Justice (Retd.) S.S. Saron as Chief Gurdwara Election Commissioner on October 5 to hold pending SGPC elections.
Interacting with media, Justice (Retd.) S.S. Saron informed that he has been instructed to hold SGPC elections within two years but he has not been provided any office, staff or secretary to begin his work. “A special secretary of Punjab government’s Home Department has contacted me after which I am expecting to get office allotted in coming days,” he added.
Even if Justice (Retd.) S.S. Saron gets his new office and staff, it won’t be easy for him to hold SGPC elections shortly as there are a lot of legal hindrances because of the following two challenges:
- Justice (Retd.) S.S. Saron would have to wait for the Supreme Court’s decision about the legitimacy of Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhik Committee as the SGPC member from Kurukshetra had moved a petition challenging the legitimacy of HSGPC constituted by the Haryana government.
- As the BJP led Union government of India had abolished the voting right of Sehajdharis in SGPC elections, so the Gurdwara Election Commission will have to prepare a voter list of Gursikh voters in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, which is a long process.
In 2018, the Indian government had appointed Justice (Retd.) Darshan Singh as Chief Gurdwara Election Commissioner to hold SGPC elections but he didn’t take charge as he got placed at some other post of profit in Haryana.
