The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the validity of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Act, 2014, paving the way for the formation of Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC). The Shiromani Gurdwara Management Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) based in Punjab’s Amritsar had challenged the constitutional validity of the law enacted by the then Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government in July 2014 ahead of Vidhan Sabha polls. However, the apex court has dismissed it, bringing celebrations among the members of HSGMC. Expressing happiness over the verdict, HSGMC president Baljit Singh Daduwal said the judgment has paved the way for handover of the management of all 52 gurdwaras in Haryana to their body. “Currently the state has 52 gurdwaras which have an annual contribution of nearly Rs 150 crore in the budget of SGPC, Daduwal told The Indian Express . The management of 48 gurdwaras is being looked at by SGPC leaving only four for the HSGMC. “We will soon approach the Haryana government to help us in handing over the management of all 52 gurdwaras to the HSGMC. We will incur the budget of these gurdwaras on the religious activities and setting up educational and medical institutions in the state.” Jagdish Singh Jhinda, who remained president of HSGMC from 2014 to 2020, said, “Now the Sikhs of Haryana will be able to take their political decisions independently instead of looking at the Badal family of Punjab. According to Jhinda, through SGPC, Badals have been influencing the politics of Sikh community in Haryana too as “the SGPC has been looking after the gurdwaras’ management and recruiting staff for the same”. Jhinda says the Sikh voters play an important role in nearly 25 assembly constituencies of the total 90 Vidhan Sabha segments in Haryana. Meanwhile, the SGPC has decided to file a review petition following the SC judgment. The decision was taken at the SGPC executive committee meeting at Sri Guru Ramdas Medical College in Amritsar, which was presided over by the committee president advocate Harjinder Singh Dhami. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday described the Supreme Court verdict recognising the validity of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Act, 2014 as “an attack on the ‘panth’, which caused deep resentment among the community worldwide.”
