PATIALA: The SGPC has sanctioned a sum of Rs 2 lakh for the defense of S. Simranjit Singh Mann President UAD (Mann) and an accused in the alleged larger conspiracy to assassinate Indira Gandhi,
At its meeting held at Gurdwara Dukh Niwaram here under the chairmanship of the Acting President Ujjgar Singh Rangretta, the SGPC Executive Committee alleged that S. Mann was “falsely” implicated in the case for “political reasons.” The SGPC President Gurcharan Singh Tohra, now detained at Nidampur, has already appointed a defense committee to contest the case in the court.
The Executive also decided to grant a monthly pension of Rs 500 each to the families to those Army deserters who are undergoing imprisonment in different jails in the country. The Executive also decided to give preference in the recruitments for various posts in the SGPC to the Army deserters and Jodhpur detainees, who were also released a few months ago.
The Executive also revised the pay scales for its employees with effect from October 1. Every employee will get a minimum benefit of Rs 110 and a maximum of Rs 200 per month.
The Executive also decided to rebuild the Sikh Reference Library which was reduced to ashes during Operation Bluestar. The SGPC Secretary, Manjit Singh Calcutta, has been authorized to sanction any amount to acquire any rare document, manuscript, or zeroxed copies of any important documents.
All Executive members, including the General Secretary, Mal Singh Ghuman, Harcharan Singh Dilli, Satnam Singh, Joginder Singh Yogi and dissident members Shiv Singh, Khushipur and Puran Singh Josh, attended the meeting.
The meeting, which was held after a lapse of about four months.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 29, 1989
