Supreme Court orders status quo on management of Haryana gurdwaras

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Haryana government to maintain status quo on the control of 50-odd gurdwaras in the state which are currently under the administration of the Amritsar-based Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee ( SGPC).

Haryana last month enacted law to create a separate SGPC to manage the shrines in the state. The move was seen as aimed at ending the dominance of Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal in the Sikh religious affairs in other states through the SGPC dominated by it.

Members of the new and old bodies have been engaged in physical fights for the control of the gurdwaras. Following pressure from Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh, the Union government had asked Haryana not to go ahead with the law. The request was rejected by the Congressruled state government.

The court's directive, given by a bench comprising Chief Justice RM Lodha and Justices Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, came on a petition filed by a member of the Kurukshetra SGPC, who challenged the new Haryana law.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that the SGPC was clearly a central subject, as he questioned Haryana’s competence to enact the law. He handed over a report by the new state governor – Jagannath Pahadia, who had given the ascent to bill as governor, stepped down late last month - and another by the Union home ministry to reinforce his plea to direct a status quo on all Haryana gurdwaras.

"The situation is critical. One group is inside (the gurdwara), the other outside. One gurdwara in Kurukshetra has been forcibly taken over by the Haryana SGPC," he told the court, underlining the risk of violence. "This will be a constant problem."

Lawyer for the Kurukshetra SGPC, Harish N Salve, also urged the court to order a status quo to prevent the row from spilling over to other states. The bench directed the Amritsar-based SGPC to maintain separate accounts of donations made to Haryana gurdwaras and posted the petition for further hearing on August 25.