Chandigarh : Punjab’s Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday asked the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to file a caveat in the Supreme Court before a judgement is passed on a PIL demanding the return of Kohinoor diamond to India.
SGPC would represent the Sikh community in the PIL and demand that the diamond, which is now a part of the crown jewels of the Queen of England, be returned to the religious body which manages Sikh shrines.
This assertion is being made on the basis that Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the head of a “Khalsa Raj”, a press release issued by ruling SAD said here.
In the absence of any such system now, the SGPC is the representative of the community to which the diamond rightfully belongs, the release claimed.
SAD said it is confident that the Centre will rethink its stand on the issue as there was no doubt that Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the absolute owner of the Kohinoor and that it was taken away by the British in a “deceitful manner”.
It feels this wrong can only be set right by the return of the diamond to the Sikh community, it said. SGPC had yesterday said that the Kohinoor diamond should be returned to the apex religious body of the Sikhs “as it belonged to Sikh community”.
