Supreme Court of India To Hear Petition Challenging HSGPC Legitimacy

CHANDIGARH, Punjab—The Supreme Court of India has now fixed August 22 as the day it will proceed with a hearing on the petition challenging the legitimacy of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhik Committee. The petition was moved by a Kurukshetra based SGPC member, Harbhajan Singh, over two years ago. However, three chief justices of the Supreme Court have retired since then.

Speaking to Sikh24, HSGPC’s General Secretary S. Joga Singh said that August 22 might be the last date of this case and the Court was expected to deliver it’s verdict on that day. He further shared that their legal counsel has appealed to the court to complete the case at the earliest.

It may be recalled here that the HSGPC was constituted by the Bhupinder Singh Hooda led Congress government of Haryana on July 11, 2014. Before the constitution of the HSGPC, all Gurdwaras and SGPC institutions in the state were handled by the SGPC, which has headquarters in Sri Amritsar Sahib. The SGPC claimed that the HSGPC’s formation was unconstitutional, as per the All India Gurdwara Act of 1925.  It has since challenged the HSGPC’s existence by moving a petition in the court. The SGPC had also refused to return keys to various Gurdwaras in Haryana, to the HSGPC, even though it was given legal status by the Haryana government.