Akal Takht summons every Sikh MLA

Who: Acting Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj and four other high priests; the Sikh ministers and MLAs of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha from every party, among them Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, and the SAD's Ganieve Kaur Majithia.

What: On 15 June 2026 the five Singh Sahiban summoned all Sikh MLAs and the Punjab Cabinet to the Akal Takht over the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026. The Vidhan Sabha had passed it unanimously on 13 April, with stricter punishments including life imprisonment for sacrilege. On Monday 29 June, 87 MLAs came to the Akal Takht Secretariat: 69 from the ruling AAP, 15 from Congress, two from the SAD and one Independent, the Tribune reported. Until then leaders had gone to the Takht one at a time. Two non-Sikh Congress MLAs attended, and four non-Sikh AAP MLAs sent written explanations.

Gargaj told the legislators that the government had been "misled" in drafting the law. His objections included the definition of "custodian" and a proposed central register of saroops, which he said could expose the places where saroops are kept in homes and gurdwaras. He said keeping records of birs and supervising their publication was the SGPC's duty, not the government's. He ordered the objectionable clauses removed within a month and the Act kept on hold until then. All the MLAs raised their hands to agree.

Where: The Sri Akal Takht Sahib Secretariat, Amritsar.

Why it mattered: It was the first time that all Sikh legislators across party lines stood before the Takht together, over a law on Sri Guru Granth Sahib passed by their own House. Most said they had seen the draft only shortly before the vote. Two AAP MLAs admitted approving the Bill without reading it. Congress MLA Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa said the Cabinet approved it on 11 April and MLAs received it on 13 April, the day it passed. Sandhwan said he had forwarded the Takht's written objections after his summons in May and that the Assembly could amend the law. Cheema said the government would decide within a month.

The same sitting of 15 June declared Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann "Guru Dokhi" over a video, which Gargaj said two forensic laboratories found authentic. An AAP spokesman, Baltej Singh Pannu, said the reports did not show who was in the video and that the Takht belonged to all Sikhs.