Former SAD ministers Sucha Singh Langah, Manpreet Badal appear before Akal Takht
The Akal Takht had declared party president and former deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal a ‘tankhaiya’ (guilty of religious misconduct) on August 30 and asked ministers who served in the Akali government during the period to appear in person within 15 days
Former SAD ministers Sucha Singh Langah and Manpreet Singh Badal appeared before the Akal Takht on Friday to submit their explanation regarding the “mistakes” committed during the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) regime between 2007 and 2017.
The highest Sikh temporal seat had declared party president and former deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal a ‘tankhaiya’ (guilty of religious misconduct) on August 30 and asked ministers who served in the Akali government during the period to appear in person within 15 days.
Langah and Manpreet submitted their letters to the Akal Takht secretariat and paid obeisance at the highest Sikh temporal seat. Langah said, “I have no ties with the Sirsa-based Dera, and I never sought support from it. I have submitted my reply, and I will accept whatever order is issued.”
Manpreet, who remained finance minister during the SAD-BJP regime and is now a BJP leader, did not speak to the media.
Langah, a former SAD leader and SGPC member, was excommunicated by the Takht in 2017 after a video purportedly showing him engaging in an immoral act with a woman had surfaced. The woman, a Punjab Police constable, had also accused him of rape but he was acquitted in the case. In 2022, the highest Sikh temporal seat allowed Langah to resume his political activities by awarding him ‘tankhah’ (religious punishment) for the immoral act. However, the SAD did not reinstate him into the party fold.