Call it a rare occasion that was repeated at the Akal Takht on Monday.Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan appeared before the Secretariat of Akal Takht, along with other legislators summoned by officiating Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj for participating in the process of passing the Jagat Jyot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026 in the Vidhan Sabha on April 13 on the occasion of Baisakhi.The amendment to the earlier 2008 Act had triggered widespread debate, prompting the Akal Takht to summon the 78 Sikh MLAs and nine Sikh Cabinet ministers. They were given one-month span to rectify the objectionable provisions in the amendment Act.Nonetheless, Sandhwan’s appearance marks as the only second instance in Sikh history, after Badal family, when two members of the same family were summoned by the supreme temporal authority of the Sikh faith.In the aftermath of Operation Blue Star in June 1984, Giani Zail Singh, the then President of India and commander of the Armed forces, was summoned by the Akal Takht, which held him morally accountable for the military action at the Golden Temple.Sandhwan, often identified as the grandson of Giani Zail Singh, though he is in fact the grandson of Zail Singh’s brother.Today, approximately 42 years later, Sandhwan stood before the Akal Takht Jathedar marking the second such occurrence involving the Sandhwan family.Before this, only the Badal family had witnessed a similar precedent.In 1978, following the 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, former Deputy Chief Minister, was declared “tankhaiya” (guilty of religious misconduct) and was pronounced ‘tankhah’ (religious punishment) in connection with sacrilege incidents and other anti-Panthic moves taken during the SAD regime between 2007 and 2017.Prof. Kuldip Singh (retd), Political Science, Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) obersved that the Akal Takht has supreme religious authority but devoid of any constitutional power.“Akal Takht Jathedar can direct excommunication, pronouncing a social or religious boycott, but could neither impose legal action, a fine, nor a jail term. Yet, it has its own norms to punish. It could declare individuals tankhaiya (punish for moral misconduct) while assigning tankhah (religious punishment for atonement) through pronouncing sewa such as cleaning shoes, utensils or toilets at the Golden Temple, often taken as making a public apology and on some occasions doing ‘sewa’ while wearing a placard of repentance around the neck, as lately was there in case of Sukhbir and his coterie of ministers held guilty of anti-Panthic decisions. Earlier, former CM Surjit Singh Barnala too faced an identical situation,” he said.Most recently, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had also been summoned by the Akal Takht Secretariat for clarification over a controversial video, and was declared as ‘Guru Dokhi’ (anti-Guru) “Panth Dokhi” (betrayer of the Panth), holding him accused of ‘undermining’the authority of the Akal Takht and video purportedly showing him sprinkling ‘liquor’ on images of Sikh Gurus and Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.Dr Amarjit Singh, director of Sikh Studies Chair, GNDU viewed that summoning Sikh MLAs at Akal Takht was nothing but politically motivated move.He said that CM Mann also could not be punished also on technical ground, as he was neither ‘sabat surat’ nor ‘complying with the Sikh code of conduct’Looking back, in the early 19th century, Akali Phoola Singh, then Jathedar of the Akal Takht, had summoned Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the powerful ruler of the Sikh Empire. The Maharaja had humbly accepted religious punishment before the institution, reaffirming its supreme moral authority.Apart from Giani Zail Singh, then Union Home Minister Buta Singh was also punished by the Akal Takht. Former CM Surjit Singh Barnala faced religious sanctions after deploying police inside the Golden Temple complex during Operation Black Thunder.