SGPC to file review petition after SC upholds 2014 Hry law on gurdwaras

Amritsar, Sep 20 (IANS) The executive committee of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has said that it will file a review petition after the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the constitutional validity of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Act, 2014, allowing the formation of a separate committee other than the SGPC to manage the affairs of gurdwaras in the state.

A top court bench of justices Hemant Gupta and Vikram Nath said: "The affairs of the religious minority in the state, i.e., Sikhs, is left in the hands of Sikhs alone in the same manner as was under the 1925 Act (Sikh Gurdwaras Act). The Haryana Act also provides for Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Judicial Commission in the same manner as is provided under the 1925 Act."

After the court verdict, SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami presided over a meeting of the executive committee at Sri Guru Ramdas Medical College in Amritsar.

Talking to mediapersons after the meeting, Dhami said a consensus has been reached to file a review petition in the case of validity to Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Act, 2014, by the Supreme Court, for which the officials of SGPC have been deputed in Delhi.

Dhami said the next legal action will be taken as per the opinion of senior lawyers after examining the SC order.

Notably, the SC in its judgment upheld the validity of Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Act, 2014 and dismissed the petitions filed by the SGPC challenging the existence of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee.

The then Haryana government under Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had passed the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Act in 2014, creating a separate juristic entity for the management of historical gurdwaras in the state.