Sehajdhari row: SGPC to seek time from Supreme Court
Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - 20:30
CHANDIGARH: The Sehajdhari Sikh Federation has filed its reply in the Special Leave Petition of the SGPC before Supreme Court. The respondent Sehajdhari Sikh Federation represented by its National President Dr.P.S.Ranu has raised preliminary objections on the locus standii of the SGPC for filing the SLP.
The 75 pages reply of the Sehajdharis has given a detailed counter to all the law points raised in the SLP by the SGPC.The Sehajdhari Sikh Federation has requested the Supreme Court that the present SLP deserves to be dismissed on the short ground that the Union of India which had issued the impugned notification dated 8.10.2003 debarring the Sehajdharis to vote , has chosen not to impugn the judgment of Hon’ble Full Bench, having accepted its correctness.
The petitioner SGPC, therefore, lacks locus standi to file and maintain the present SLP. Also in view of the ad-interim order dated 3.8.2011 of the Hon’ble Full Bench of High Court; the entire election process itself was made subject to the decision by the Full Bench and the Supreme Court had affirmed the same vide order dated 16.9.2011,where by virtue of consent order of all the parties it was then directed by the Supreme Court that the result of the election would abide by the decision by the Full Bench.
The Full Bench having quashed the notification dated 8.10.2003; the election held on 18.09.2011 to the new house is a nullity. The result of the election has been notified by Government of India vide Notification dated 17.12.2011 thereby constituting the newly elected Board but the said notification was subject to the final outcome of the writ petition pending in the High Court. Thus it inevitably follows that there is no validly constituted house/Board as on date or even on the date when a decision was taken to file the present SLP.
There being no valid resolution of the petitioner, which is a body corporate, the present SLP has not been filed by a competent person and the same also deserves to be dismissed for want of proper resolution in this regard as a body corporate can only act through a resolution as neither the Old house was in existence nor the new House has passed any resolution authorizing any one to approach the SC, therefore the SLP deserves to be dismissed on this ground alone.
The Supreme Court has only allowed the executive body of the old house to look after the day to day affairs so that the functioning of the body corporate may not suffer. This further supports the contention of the Sehajdhari Sikh Federation that there is no validly constituted body in existence, therefore the petitioner cannot maintain the present Special Leave Petition.
The issue raised in 2003 when the SGPC passed resolutions that only keshdhari Sikhs should be allowed to vote in the SGPC elections and those with shorn hairs, trimeed or shaved beards and plucked eyebrows were termed as patits and their voting right was snatched away by an executive order by the Ministry amending the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925.
Its first time in the history of the SGPC that 170 members of the newly elected house of the SGPC had been rendered functionless after the judgment of the full bench of the Punjab & Haryana High Court after it quashed the notification issued by the Union Home Ministry in 2003 where the Sehajdhari Sikhs were debarred from their voting right which was given to them pre independence. This time also during the SGPC election out of the 2 crore sikh population only 50 lakh Sikhs were enrolled as voters and approximately 69 lakh Sikhs were rejected naming them as patits.
It is mentionable here that the Supreme Court has in allowed the old House executive of 15 members to function as per the provisions of the Sikh Gurdwara Act that is why it could only pass its budget on vote on account but it has been noticed that the SGPC Executive had been working in violation of the spirit of the orders as it had no authority to take any policy decision for the Sikh community like as constituting the 84 riots memorial or dis-imbursement of finances on mercy ground to persons especially of Ludhiana the native place of the President of SGPC.
