A sitting member of the Paramjit Singh Sarna-led Shiromani Akali Dal Delhi -Kartar Singh Chawla has brought to light, through a petition filed three weeks ago in the Delhi High Court that DSGMC has neither presented to the General house nor published the Auditor’s Report of DSGMC for financial years 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19. Taking cognisance of the petition and the fact that nobody represented the DSGMC on 11 August, Justice Ms Rekha Palli has fixed the next date of hearing on 16 August 2021, adding a new dimension to the ongoing Sikh electoral battle in Delhi. WSN Delhi Desk’s Gurmeet Singh reports.

AMIDST THE ELECTIONEERING PROCESS OF THE DSGMC, which are scheduled for 22 August 2021, a battle is on in courts to take on the Manjinder Singh Sirsa-led committee for its acts of omission and commission over the last four years. Despite notice to the respondents -DSGMC and the Directorate of Gurdwara Election, no affidavit has been filed.

WSN Delhi Desk has learnt that the petition was filed in the Delhi High Court before 8 August 2021 when the official notification of the date of elections to be held on 22 August was released by the Directorate. One hearing had already happened on 9 August and the follow up was on 11 August when the order came. 

Surprisingly, the petitioner has sought that, “the elections should not be held till the audited financial reports of the last three years are published following the scheme of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1971.”

The Delhi High Court has noted the concern of the petitioner that he has been chasing the executive committee for the last two years but there has been no response.

While the timing of the order has brought the Sirsa team and Sarnas into another social media battle, what is being missed is that why the DSGMC does not take ownership and does not show transparency in filling and presenting financial accounts or any other required documents. There is a huge penalty applicable on non-compliance with this and all these penalties and legal expenses are being used from Gurdwara Funds which are actually to be used for the welfare of the Sikhs. 

It is also a reflection on the DSGMC-affiliated Singh Sabhas and the Sikh Sangat in Delhi that throughout these years, the Sangat did not ask any questions, leave alone inconvenient questions to the DSGMC leaders, while they continued to take them for a ride.  

It is also a reflection on the DSGMC-affiliated Singh Sabhas and the Sikh Sangat in Delhi that throughout these years, the Sangat did not ask any questions, leave alone inconvenient questions to the DSGMC leaders, while they continued to take them for a ride.  

In addition to the above three years, the report for 2019-20 and 2020-21 is also pending. It raises questions not only on the executive of DSGMC but all 55 members of DSGMC. 

Clearly, the DSGMC committee is engulfed with gross corruption, acute mismanagement, major model code of conduct violations, unnecessary mudslinging, and many legal cases. 

It may be mentioned here that all DSGMC accounts were mentioned every month in the DSGMC news magazine -Sis Ganj. However, since the oncoming of the Covid19-pandemic, the magazine has not seen the light of the day.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Many more issues are likely to emerge during the electioneering and even after. Presently, the DSGMC which has been in the past has been patronised by political parties, state and Union governments are gasping for breath in the judiciary. Historically speaking, DSGMC has been doing the rigmarole of the courts too without much gain as has been seen in the making of fresh electoral rolls. Will it be different in the future?