Amritsar: The Punjab Police on Sunday (7 December 2025) registered an FIR against 16 persons, including the then Chief Secretary of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the former Secretary of its Dharam Parchar Committee (DPC), in connection with the case of 328 missing saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

The FIR no. 168/2025 was registered at Police Station C Division, Amritsar, under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Sections 295, 295A, 409, 465 and 120-B. A copy of the FIR is available with Sikh Siyasat News.

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The action comes nearly five years after the launch of the sustained protest movement, Panthic Hoka, started by Baldev Singh Wadala of the Sikh Sadbhavna Dal, seeking accountability in the case.

The FIR was registered following assurances given by three senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders — Inderbir Singh Nijjar, former minister and MLA from Amritsar (South); Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan; and Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains — who recently visited the site of the Panthic Hoka morcha.

Who Are Named in the FIR:

Those named in the FIR include Dr Roop Singh, then Chief Secretary of the SGPC; Manjit Singh, then Secretary of the Dharam Parchar Committee; Gurbachan Singh, then Vice-Secretary; Stinder Singh, then Vice-Secretary (Finance); Nishan Singh; Paramjit Singh; Gurmukh Singh; Juzhar Singh; Baaj Singh; Dalbir Singh; Kamaljit Singh; Kulwant Singh; Jaspreet Singh; Gurcharan Singh; Stander Singh; and Amarjit Singh.

SGPC Criticises FIR, Alleges Government Interference:

The FIR drew sharp criticism from the SGPC, which termed the police action as direct interference by the Punjab government in the affairs of Sikh religious institutions.

SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami warned the AAP-led state government to stay away from Sikh institutions and urged the officiating Jathedar of the Akal Takht, Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, to take note of what he described as unwarranted state interference in a matter that, according to the SGPC, had already been resolved by the Akal Takht.

“The participation of government representatives in this long-standing religious matter and their attempts to issue directions are politically motivated,” Harjinder Singh Dhami said.

“Qaumi institutions belong solely to the Sikh community, and any attempt at government interference will not be allowed to succeed. The Sikh Panth knows how to safeguard the dignity and traditions of its religious institutions, which the government must clearly understand”, he added.

How the Issue Emerged:

The issue of missing saroops first surfaced around June 2020, when an SGPC employee noticed discrepancies in the publication house ledgers and reported that approximately 267 saroops were unaccounted for.

The Punjab Human Rights Organisation (PHRO) subsequently took up the complaint and, after examining SGPC records, concluded that 328 saroops, not 267, were actually missing.

While the physical disappearance of the saroops is believed to have taken place years earlier — during the 2013–14 and 2014–15 printing cycles — the issue became public only in mid-2020, following the exposure and scrutiny of ledger discrepancies at the SGPC’s publication house in Amritsar.

Akal Takht Appointed Probe Panel and Its Findings:

Following the public outcry, the then Acting Jathedar of the Akal Takht, Giani Harpreet Singh, constituted a probe panel.

The panel found that the disappearance of the saroops was linked to serious irregularities in the records of 2013–14 and 2014–15. It reported that several entries had been tampered with, and that the SGPC had no proper documentation for 328 saroops, in addition to certain other unaccounted copies.

However, the panel concluded that the matter involved corruption by an individual SGPC employee and stated that there was no wider conspiracy involved.

This conclusion failed to satisfy many Sikh circles, who alleged that the sensitive issue was being downplayed and not investigated in its full institutional and political scope.

Allegations of Subversion of SGPC’s Due Process:

Former SGPC General Secretary Sukhdev Singh Bhaur had earlier alleged that leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) had intervened in the handling and distribution of saroops.

According to him, saroops were provided to places where prescribed Gurmaryada was not strictly observed, and that too without the mandatory recommendations of SGPC’s local pracharaks, which is required under SGPC’s own procedures.

Exclusive Control and the Growing Trust Deficit:

It is noteworthy that the “Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Act, 2008” was enacted by the Punjab State Assembly after the general house of the SGPC passed a formal resolution urging the Punjab government to prohibit all bodies and individuals, other than the SGPC, from preparing saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Acting on this resolution, the SAD (Badal)-led Punjab government enacted the law granting exclusive statutory authority to the SGPC for the preparation of saroops.

Critics argue that the lack of transparency in the SGPC’s internal processes, combined with its bureaucratic structure and the long-standing political control of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) over the SGPC, has contributed to a deepening trust deficit between large sections of the Sikh community and those managing the apex Gurdwara management body in Punjab.

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