Chief Khalsa Diwan suspends honorary secretary booked in sexual assault case

The Chief Khalsa Diwan has suspended organisation’s additional honorary secretary, Harinderpal Singh Sethi, from the post and primary membership after he was booked by police in a sexual assault case.

AAP MLA and organisation’s president Inderbir Singh Nijjar confirmed his suspension, stating that the charges were extremely serious and had brought disrepute to the esteemed Sikh institution, which has long been recognised for its prominent role in the field of education.

Police booked Sethi on June 26 following a complaint filed by a 17-year-old girl from Delhi. The girl alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Sethi on multiple occasions.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted to probe the allegations, led by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Parwinder Kaur. Assistant Commissioner of Police Rishabh Bhola and SHO of Ranjit Avenue Police Station Robin Hans are members of the investigating team.

Harinderpal Sethi is the son of Santokh Singh Sethi, vice president of CKD.

The victim in her complaint alleged that the first incident occurred in Amritsar in May 2022, when she had visited the city with her mother to meet relatives.

She claimed further incidents took place in May and October 2023, the latter allegedly in her mother’s presence. Her mother has been named as a co-accused in the FIR.

SHO Robin Hans said the victim is a relative of the accused. She initially lodged a complaint with Nizamuddin police in Delhi, which registered a Zero FIR and transferred the case to the Amritsar police, as the initial incident occurred in Amritsar.