Haryana SGPC Battle: Court wants to know if Gurudwara Act comes under central list

The Punjab & Haryana HC on Monday issued notices to the Centre and governments of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh on a petition challenging the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Act, 2014. The court asked the governments to let it know whether the Sikh Gurdwara Act, which came into force 90 years back, was enacted as a central or state subject.

A division bench comprising Justices Hemant Gupta and Justice Arun Palli also issued notices to Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee and the S h i r o m a n i G u r d w a r a Parbandhak Committee. The respondents have been directed to file their responses by September 5, the next date of hearing of the petition.

The ongoing political battle has pitted the Centre and Punjab government on one side and the Haryana government on the other side over its constitution of a separate body for governing of gurudwaras located in Haryana.

In his petition, Fatehgarh Sahibbased advocate Ram Singh Somal asserted that the Haryana assembly was not competent to enact the Act. He contended that the SGPC became an interstate body corporate with the reorganisation of the Punjab state through the Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966. He contended that any law regarding the incorporation, regulation and its winding could be passed only by Parliament.

He added that the Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925 assumed the character of a Central Act with the reorganisation.