HSGMC wins legal battle after 8-yr struggle

Tribune News Service

Parveen Arora

Karnal, September 20

With the Supreme Court upholding the constitutional validity of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Act, 2014, today, the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC ad hoc) has won a legal battle after a struggle of eight years.

Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Act: From Assembly to Supreme court

July 11, 2014: The Haryana Assembly passes the Bill to form the HSGPC

July 14, 2014: The Governor gives consent to the Bill, making it an Act

Aug 7, 2014: The apex court orders maintaining the status quo

Sept 20, 2022: The court upholds the constitutional validity of the Act

Daduwal at helm for over 2 yrs

• Baljit Singh Daduwal won the post of HSGMC (ad hoc) president with two votes by defeating Jagbir Singh Khalsa on August 13, 2020
• The election process was held at Gurdwara Shri Patshahi Chhevin Ate Nauvin Sahib Cheeka in Kaithal around two-and-a-half years ago

The person who moved the SC

• SGPC member Harbhajan Singh Masana of Masana village in Kurukshetra district challenged the Haryana law in the Supreme Court
• Born in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, he shifted to Haryana in 1966
• A farmer by profession, Harbhajan said he was yet to receive the copy of the SC order, and could comment only after that

The Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (HSGPC) was formed on July 11, 2014, after a Bill was passed by the Haryana Assembly, paving the way for better autonomous management and effective supervision of gurdwaras and their properties in the state.

The Haryana Governor accorded his consent to the Bill on July 14, 2014, making it an Act.

The then state government, led by the former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, formed a 41-member ad hoc committee to manage the gurdwaras in the state till the completion of the election process for a separate body. It was termed as Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC ad hoc). The body is headquartered at Gurdwara Shri Patshahi Chhevin Ate Nauvin Sahib Cheeka in Kaithal.

Before this move, the gurdwaras in Haryana were under the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). Clashes were reported between HSGMC and SGPC supporters on the issue of taking control of various gurdwaras.

As per HSGMC members, 52 gurdwaras in the state were notified under the Act. The management and control of 48 gurdwaras was with the SGPC, while the HSGMC had control of four gurdwaras.

SGPC member Harbhajan Singh Masana had challenged the Haryana Government’s move, saying the SGPC was constituted under the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, which became an interstate corporation by virtue of Section 72 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act.

The Haryana Government didn’t have the power to enact any Bill to form a separate body, he had claimed. He claimed the Act was against the constitutional provisions and the provisions under the Punjab Reorganisation Act.

According to HSGMC members, the matter had been pending in the apex court since August 7, 2014, which had ordered status quo on the issue.

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