Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan on Monday appeared before the Akal Takht over the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act.All Sikh MLAs, including ministers, from the state appeared before the highest seat of Sikhism after being summoned by officiating Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj.Sandhwan’s appearance marks the second instance in Sikh history when two members of the same family have been summoned by the Akal Takht.In the aftermath of Operation Bluestar in June 1984, Giani Zail Singh — the then President and the Supreme Commander of the Indian armed forces — was summoned by the Akal Takht, which held him morally accountable for the military action at the Golden Temple.Sandhwan, often mistakenly identified as the grandson of Giani Zail Singh, is in fact the grandson of Zail Singh’s brother Jangir Singh.Approximately 42 years later, Sandhwan stood before the Jathedar on Monday, marking the second such occurrence involving the Sandhwan family.Before this, only the Badal family had witnessed a similar precedent.In 1978, following a violent clash between Sikhs and the Nirankaris in Amritsar, then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was summoned by the Akal Takht.In 2024, his son Sukhbir Singh Badal, the then former Deputy Chief Minister, was declared “tankhaiya” (guilty of religious misconduct) and was pronounced ‘tankhah’ (religious punishment) in connection with sacrilege cases and other anti-Panthic decisions taken during the SAD regime between 2007 and 2017.Prof Kuldip Singh (retd), political science, Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), said the Akal Takht Jathedar could not impose legal actions such as fine or imprisonment. However, the Takht follows its own established norms for delivering religious punishment..“The Jathedar can excommunicate individuals, declare them ‘tankhaiya’ (punish for moral misconduct) and assign tankhah (religious punishment for atonement). This punishment may include ‘sewa’, such as cleaning of shoes and utensils, and offering nominal ‘bheta’ for conducting prayers. On certain occasions, the Jathedar may also direct the individual to wear a placard of repentance around the neck, as was recently seen in the case of Sukhbir Singh Badal and his group of ministers, who were held guilty of anti-Panthic decisions. Earlier, former Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala faced a similar situation when he was held accountable for deploying police inside the Golden Temple complex during Operation Black Thunder in 1986,” he said.Most recently, CM Mann was also summoned by Giani Gargaj over a controversial video. He was declared ‘Guru Dokhi’ (anti-Guru) “Panth Dokhi” (a betrayer of the Panth).Dr Amarjit Singh, director, Sikh Studies Chair, GNDU, said summoning a CM or Sikh MLAs at Akal Takht was nothing but a politically motivated move.Technically, he added, the Akal Takht cannot punish the Chief Minister, as he is neither ‘sabat surat’ (maintaining the full Sikh identity) nor in compliance with the Sikh code of conduct.