Amritsar, Dec. 12 -- Terming the Punjab government's move to register an FIR in the matter of 328 missing holy saroops of Guru Granth Sahib as a direct challenge to Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs, and an unwarranted interference in its administrative rights, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Thursday put the ball in the court of acting jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj and urged him to issue an edict. Sharing details of the resolution passed at the executive committee meeting at its headquarters, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami, who chaired the meeting, said, "Though action regarding the sacred saroops (holy scriptures) had already been completed in accordance with the directives of Akal Takht Sahib, the recent participation of ministers, the Speaker, and MLAs in a protest on Heritage Street leading to Sri Darbar Sahib in Amritsar and their directions to the police to register an FIR show that the government is intentionally exploiting the matter for political gain." He said the issue is not one of sacrilege or missing saroops, but rather of financial misappropriation committed by employees. "Presenting this matter as sacrilege or missing saroops is a political conspiracy aimed at defaming the premier Sikh institution and hurting the sentiments of the Sikh community, an agenda in which the Punjab government is fully involved," he said. The FIR was registered on December 7 against 16 individuals, mostly former SGPC staffers, in connection with the missing 328 'saroops' of Guru Granth Sahib five years after the matter came to light. The case was registered under Sections 295 (injuring or defiling a place of worship or sacred object with intent to insult a religion), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 465 (forgery) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. "The government's decision to register an FIR is aimed at hiding its own failures," Dhami said....