Punjab Advocate General forced to resign: Akali Dal

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday dared AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann to come clean on reports that ousted Punjab Advocate General Anmol Ratan Singh Sidhu was forced to resign because he had openly and squarely blamed the former for blocking the release of Sikh detainee Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar.

Punjab Advocate General forced to resign: Akali Dal
Anmol Ratan Singh Sidhu. Source: IANS

Chandigarh, July 30 (IANS) The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday dared AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann to come clean on reports that ousted Punjab Advocate General Anmol Ratan Singh Sidhu was forced to resign because he had openly and squarely blamed the former for blocking the release of Sikh detainee Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar.

The party also took exception to the choice of Sirsa Dera chief's counsel Vinod Ghai to replace Sidhu.

It demanded an independent probe into allegations that the 2015 incidents of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in Punjab were "a part of a deep-rooted conspiracy by powerful political forces outside Punjab to destabilise the government led by Parkash Singh Badal and to divide and weaken the Khalsa Panth by sowing seeds of suspicion in its ranks".

"The conspiracy, still continuing, is aimed at making the Sikh 'quom' totally leaderless and confused."

In a statement here, senior Akali leader Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal said: "Both the ouster of Anmol Ratan Sidhu following his stand on Bhullar's release as well as the choice of the Dera chief Ram Rahim's counsel as the new Advocate General clearly necessitate a high-level and independent probe into allegations that the 2015 sacrilege events during the Parkash Singh Badal-led government were a part of conspiracy engineered from outside Punjab in order to destabilise Punjab."