A voice for the All India Sikh Gurdwaras Bill, drafted but never tabled in Parliament, has been raised ahead of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC)’s next move to counter the Supreme Court’s (SC) decision that validated the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Act, 2014.
Under this dispensation, all gurdwaras would be under the control of a single Sikh body. In this way, the SGPC would have consolidated its status as an apex body that controls regional and state-level boards across the country.
It was shuttled many times between the Centre, the Punjab Government, and the SGPC, experts said. The last time it happened was in 2002 when the Punjab Government and SGPC were asked to comment. It has remained dormant ever since.
Despite the fact that a panel was formed to review it, no consideration was given to implementing the recommendations.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government refused to implement the Bill in 2002-2003, according to SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami.
Dr Kashmir Singh, former head of the Department of Law at GND University and member of the panel preparing the draft of the All India Sikh Gurdwaras Bill, said that filing a review petition in the SC would yield a “negligible outcome”.
In his books on Indian gurdwara laws, Dr Singh states that “If the Sikhs really wish to consolidate the SGPC, efforts should be made to revive the defunct All India Sikh Gurdwaras Bill.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been requested to intervene by BJP leader Sarchand Singh. Informing the PM of this long-pending request, I requested that he fulfill it. According to him, the SC judgment would restrict SGPC’s jurisdiction to Punjab alone.
Harnam Singh Khalsa, head of Damdami Taksal, also voiced similar concerns and demanded the bill’s implementation.