SGPC urges CJI to form constitutional bench on Haryana gurdwara act

The SGPC on Friday appealed to the Chief Justice of India to form a five-member constitutional bench to review the judgment upholding the validity of an Act for the management of gurdwaras in Haryana.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) also urged the Centre to file a review petition.

The Supreme Court had recently upheld the validity of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Act enacted by the state legislature to manage the religious places of Sikhs effectively and permanently under the exclusive control of the Sikhs of Haryana.

The appeal to the apex court was made during an SGPC meeting here.

A call was also made to organise a march for awareness in the Sikh community on this issue.

The march will be taken from the Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, and Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib, Anandpur Sahib, to the Akal Takht in Amritsar.

"For the safety of the supreme Sikh body SGPC, the entire Khalsa Panth will struggle with unity under the leadership of Akal Takht Sahib," SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami said.

The speakers on the occasion said the tactics and conspiracies of the Congress, BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party to weaken Sikh power will not be allowed to succeed.

"If a separate Gurdwara committee for Haryana is formed today, then tomorrow these anti-Sikh forces will go to the extent of taking over management of Takhts and historic gurdwara sahibs in Punjab," Dhami alleged.

Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Chandigarh endorsed the SGPC's call to hold a march on October 7.

Akali leader and former minister Daljit Singh Cheema said, "The SAD has decided to support the SGPC's initiative to highlight the discrimination meted out to the community and ensure justice is done to it."

Terming the Haryana Act which was passed by the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government as "illegal and unconstitutional", the SAD leader said it was unfortunate that both present Haryana and Punjab governments as well as the central government supported the move in the court.

"This has hurt sentiments of the Sikh community, which rightly feels that Sikhs have been discriminated against with the validation of the Haryana Committee by the apex court," he said in a statement.