HC to hear plea seeking cancellation of SAD's registration

Delhi High Court today agreed to hear on May 5 the arguments on a petition seeking cancellation of the registration of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
The petition, which was earlier transferred by a bench headed by Chief Justice G Rohini, came up for hearing before a bench of justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Mukta Gupta today.
"The matter has been received on transfer. List it for arguments on May 5," the bench said.
The Election Commission of India (EC) had earlier sought dismissal of the public interest litigation (PIL) seeking cancellation of registration of SAD in the high court.
EC's counsel had said the poll panel did not want to file their replies as the allegation levelled in the petition that SAD was "a religious organisation and not a secular political party", was "baseless".

Socialist Party of India Vice President Balwant Singh Khera had alleged in his PIL that the SAD had obtained its registration by "fraud" and it should be cancelled.

Khera's counsel had earlier claimed that neither the EC, nor SAD had filed replies to the plea which was filed in 2010.
The petitioner has underlined that SAD had signed an undertaking at the time of its registration to uphold the Constitution.
"One of those undertakings is that it shall be secular, but its activities are not secular in nature," the petition had said, pointing towards the party's admitted participation in gurdwara elections.

The petitioner had also claimed that his right to equality and non-discrimination guaranteed under Article 14 of the Constitution, and the right to freedom of religion guaranteed by Article 25, were being repeatedly violated as "religion is being admittedly introduced into the politics of Punjab by SAD, yet the state through its authorised body (EC) has repeatedly refused to take necessary action to restore/ guard these rights".
"They (SAD members) have been contesting gurdwara committee elections as a religious body and their party specifies that all members must be practising Sikhs," the plea said.