HARYANA SIKH GURDWARAS (MANAGEMENT ACT), 2014

About:

• The verdict has cleared the way for the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) to control all gurdwaras in the state.
• The gurdwaras covered by the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 are spread over Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Chandigarh, and are administered by Amritsar-based Shiromani Gurdwara Management Prabandhak Committee (SGPC).
• Until the Haryana Act came into force, the gurdwaras in Haryana were governed by the provisions of the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925.
• The Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management Act) was brought in based on a nearly two-decade old demand by a section of the Sikh community in Haryana to have a separate committee to manage gurdwaras in the state instead of SGPC.
• Upholding the validity of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management Act), 2014, the Supreme Court said that since the affairs of the Sikh minority in the state are to be managed by the Sikhs alone, it cannot be said to be violative of any of the fundamental rights conferred under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution.