Jatinder Singh, a former Secretary General of the Sikh Council UK, had spoken out recently after a security guard at Birmingham Crown Court reportedly denied him re-entry to the court with his kirpan – one of his five articles of faith as an Amritdhari Sikh
A British Sikh man who said he was barred from jury duty because he was carrying a kirpan at a UK court has been invited by the authorities to discuss the matter further, after it was claimed that his discharge was due to a surplus of jury members on the day, reported PTI.
Jatinder Singh, a former Secretary General of the Sikh Council UK, had spoken out recently after a security guard at Birmingham Crown Court reportedly denied him re-entry to the court with his kirpan – one of his five articles of faith as an Amritdhari Sikh.
“We apologise to Mr Singh for any distress caused. We have invited Mr Singh and the Sikh Federation to discuss the incident in full to ensure our policies are being applied correctly and consistently, so that this incident doesn’t happen again,”
— HMCTS Spokesperson
His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), an agency of the Ministry of Justice, has since apologised to Singh for any distress caused and invited him to discuss the matter to avoid any future recurrence.
“We apologise to Mr Singh for any distress caused. We have invited Mr Singh and the Sikh Federation to discuss the incident in full to ensure our policies are being applied correctly and consistently, so that this incident doesn’t happen again,” said a spokesperson for the HMCTS.
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