Akal Takht declares Sukhbir Badal tankhaiya, then pronounces his tankhah

Who: The five Singh Sahiban at Sri Akal Takht Sahib, led by Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh, and Sukhbir Singh Badal, then president of the Shiromani Akali Dal. The complainants were dissident Akali leaders, among them Bibi Jagir Kaur, Surjit Singh Rakhra, Sikandar Singh Maluka, Parminder Singh Dhindsa and Sarwan Singh Phillaur, all ministers in the SAD-BJP governments of 2007 to 2017.

What: On 1 July 2024 the dissidents gave the Akal Takht a joint letter accusing Sukhbir of breaking the Takht's 2007 edict against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim. It listed political support from the Dera, his exoneration over the Dera chief's 2007 attempt to imitate Guru Gobind Singh, Rs 90 lakh of SGPC money spent on advertisements defending the pardon, the 2015 sacrilege cases and the Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan firings, and the promotion of a police chief known for fake encounters of Sikh youth. On 24 July Sukhbir wrote asking forgiveness without naming the mistakes.

On Friday 30 August 2024 the five Singh Sahiban unanimously declared him tankhaiya for the mistakes of his party and government from 2007 to 2017. He was to stay tankhaiya until he appeared before the Takht as a humble Sikh, and was given 15 days. Sikh ministers of the time were summoned too.

On 2 December 2024 the tankhah was pronounced. Sukhbir and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa were to sit outside Sri Harmandir Sahib in sewadar dress holding a spear, do sewa at four takhts and clean utensils and shoes. Other leaders were told to clean washrooms and utensils. Sukhbir and six others were to repay the Rs 90 lakh with interest. Parkash Singh Badal's title of Fakhr-e-Qaum, given in 2011, was withdrawn. The Takht also set up a committee under the SGPC president, Harjinder Singh Dhami, to run a membership drive and elect a party president and office-bearers within six months. ThePrint named six members (Dhami, Iqbal Singh Jhunda, Gurpartap Singh Wadala, Manpreet Singh Ayali, Santa Singh, Bibi Satwant Kaur); The Tribune later calls it seven-member, with former SGPC president Kirpal Singh Badungar the seventh. In February 2025 Dhami resigned from the panel and the SGPC presidency, and a day later, on 18 February, Badungar quit. Sukhbir attended in a wheelchair with a fractured foot, and admitted several of the charges.

Where: Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Amritsar.

Why it mattered: The Takht, whose own Jathedars had pardoned the Dera chief in 2015 before reversing the decision under pressure from the sangat, now held the Akali leadership to account for the same affair. It also withdrew the facilities given to ex-Jathedar Gurbachan Singh, who was part of the clergy that pardoned the Dera chief.