Panj Pyaras have no right to issue edicts: SGPC

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) today said the suspended Panj Pyaras have no "legal right" to issue any religious edict after the latter demanded the removal of Jathedars of five Takhts (seats of Sikh religion), alleging that they had "created furore and restlessness in the community".
In an unprecedented development, the Panj Pyaras of the Akal Takht earlier in the day asked the SGPC to remove the Jathedars of five Takhts (seats of Sikh religion) after they failed to turn up in the Golden Temple complex to explain the pardon given to Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim.

"We have asked the SGPC to terminate the services of the five Jathedars, including Jathedar Akal Takht Giani Gurbachan Singh, immediately as the Sikh community has no faith in them due to their recent anti-Panthic acts that created furore and restlessness in the community," Satnam Singh, a Panj Pyara, told reporters.
Hours later, SGPC President Avtar Singh Makkar said that any edict or direction issued by the suspended Panj Pyaras were not binding on any religious leader attached with the SGPC.
Declaring their directives as "null and void", Makkar said the Panj Pyaras were "suspended employees with no authority to issue such directions".

"Only Jathedars can issue religious edicts. Panj Pyaras have no legal right...Even SGPC rules don't permit such things," he said.
Makkar said the Panj Pyaras were "flouting norms by issuing such edicts that showed their errant and wayward behavior toward their religious duty. The diktat of the Punj Pyaras is not acceptable to the SGPC.