SC asks HSGMC, SGPC to maintain status quo on Haryana gurudwara control

The Congress-led Haryana government run by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Shiromani Akali Dal government in Punjab led by Badal have locked horns over the issue of passing legislation for a separate Gurudwara management committee for Haryana, at the initiative of Hooda.

The Supreme Court Thursday asked both the organisations to open separate bank accounts for keeping the incomes of gurudwaras under their control.

The judge told both parties to keep their cool till further orders.

The court will check the validity of the move by the Haryana government on taking control of gurudwaras in the state.

Earlier, at the instance of Akal Takht, the highest religious body of Sikhs, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had cancelled a proposed congregation of the Sikhs in Amritsar  to challenge the Haryana government's plans for a parallel Haryana Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (HSGPC).

The Akali Dal government had also asked the Centre to intervene into the issue to prevent the legislation for a separate Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) from being implemented.

The HSGPC has been constituted under the Haryana Sikh Gurudwara Management Act, 2014. It said it will continue to hold charge and manage the affairs of all the gurudwaras in Haryana until a new committee is elected as provided for in the Act.

The Haryana government already had nominated 41 members of the Haryana Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee to look after the assets, both movable and immovable properties, of the gurudwaras in the state.