Home Minister's Statement on Court Cases Relating to SGPC Elections

 The following is the text of the statement made in Parliament today by the Union Home Minister Shri P. Chidambaram regarding the court cases relating to elections to the SGPC: 

“Yesterday evening, Ministry of Home Affairs received a report that Shri Harbhagwan Singh, Senior Advocate, appeared in the High Court of Punjab & Haryana in the cases relating to the elections to the SGPC. He appears to have made the claim that he was representing the Government of India and he stated that the notification dated 8.10.2003 was being withdrawn by the Government of India. On his statement, the High Court is reported to have passed certain orders. 

On a suggestion that a suitable senior counsel may be engaged to appear in the matter, Ministry of Law and Justice had written a letter dated 1.9.2011 approving the engagement of Shri Harbhagwan Singh in two of the three cases before the High Court. A copy of the order has not yet been received in the Ministry of Home Affairs. Neither the Ministry of Law nor the Ministry of Home Affairs had given a vakalatnama to Shri Harbhagwan Singh. No one from the Government had briefed him. In particular, he had no authority to make the statement that the notification dated 8.10.2003 would be withdrawn. 

Government also wishes to make it clear that there is no proposal to rescind or withdraw the notification dated 8.10.2003. 

Government will bring the above facts to the notice of the High Court today.”