Takht asks Chadha to resign as Chief Khalsa Diwan head
THOUGH CHADHA HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THE POST, HE HAS NOT TENDERED HIS RESIGNATION YET ON MORAL GROUNDS
AMRITSAR : Even as Charanjit Singh Chadha was removed as president of Chief Khalsa Diwan (CKD) and expelled from its primary membership, Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh on Friday asked him to tender his resignation before appearing before the Takht.
As Chadha was seen in a video in an objectionable position with a lady principal of a school run by the CKD, a 115year-old Sikh institution, the jathedar summoned him on January 23 at the Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, for the alleged immoral act.
Besides, he also banned his functioning in the organisation till the next decision.
However, the expelled CKD president denied the act and has not tendered his resignation so far.
Taking note of this, the Takht jathedar ordered him to resign from the primary membership.
Interacting with the media, the jathedar said if Chadha does not abide by the Takht directions, strict action will be taken against him.
Notably, Chadha and his son Inderpreet Singh Chadha, who was vice-president of the CKD, were booked for sexual harassment and criminal intimidation on the complaint of the lady principal. Inderpreet was also expelled from the organisation. Depressed over the episode, Inderpreet committed suicide on January 3.
THE CASE
In the last week of December, 83-year-old Chadha was caught on camera purportedly sexually harassing a woman principal of one the 50 schools run by the CKD.
The next day, Chadha was removed from top post and primary membership of the body, and a case of sexual harassment was filed against him. His son Inderpreet was also booked for criminal intimidation.
But instead of surrendering to the police, Chadha went into hiding. He later got interim bail in the case.
As the community was reeling under this controversy, fresh tragedy hit when Inderpreet allegedly killed himself. The police charged 11 people for abetting his suicide, including three members of the CKD and the woman complainant.