State govt names experts for studying Baba Bhaniara’s book

Chandigarh: The Punjab government on Friday submitted names of six experts to the Punjab and Haryana high court so as to study contents of Baba Piara Singh Bhaniara’s controversial, banned book ‘Bhavsagar Samundar Amarbani Granth’.

They are Dr Jaspal Singh, vice- chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala ; DrGur mohan Singh Walia , vice-chancellor of Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University, Fatehgarh Sahib; Balwant Singh Dhillon, director, Sri Guru Granth Sahib Study Centre, GuruNanak Dev University, Amritsar; Jaswant Singh Nekki, acting president of Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, New Delhi; Narinderpal Singh, a retired principal of Delhi; and Dr Amarjit Singh Sidhu, principal of Punjabi University College at Rampura Phul (Bathinda).

The full bench comprising justices Surya Kant, Jitendra Chauha n and Surinder Gupta directed the petitioner (Bhaniara) to submit names of experts on the next date of hearing.

The Punjab gover nment had imposed a ban on the book on December 15, 2008. Baba Bhaniara had moved the high court challenging the state government’s notification imposing the ban. The book was opposed by many members of the Sikh community on the ground that the Baba was equating himself with Sikh Gurus.

It would be for the second time that an experts’ committee would be constituted by the high court to study Bhaniara’s book. Earlier, in its report already submitted to the high court on June 3 last year, four of the five-member expert committee constituted on the court’s order had justified the ban on the book.

The case would now come up for hearing on February 7, 2014.

Source: HT