LexSHIROMANI GURUDWARA PRABHANDHAK COMMITTEE, AMRITSAR versus MAHANT KIRPA RAM & ORS.
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Slkh Gurdwaras .Act; 1925 Section 16~2)(iii)-Gurdwara-Tests /ordetermina.'
If on of -,Tv be s.hown iri~titution established /or use by Sikhs for pu/)lic·\lorship. ·
Sikhs and Udasis-Di$/incdcms-What are.
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A'group of persons .re~iding. in .a village and prof~ssing the Sikb r~Jigion
made an application · to t11e State Government requesting the Government -to·
declare the religious and ..charitabla institution described· in the appliCation at a
Sikh Gurdwara. . This application was puNishe~ in the Officiai Gazeue and res·
poodent No._l filed objections under section 8 of 1he Sikh Gurdwar~s Act, 19is
eontendil1g that the institution was not ~ Sikh Gurdwara and tha1 he was eiuit1·
ed to raise the said con'teritiorr·beca!Jse be· was the hold.!r of'the hereditary ~ffice
~f mahant of the ins~it~1ion. .
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The application was forwarded by the State G~vernment und~r ··~ectio~ t4
to the' Sikh.Gurdwara Tribunal which held tJ:tat th! respondent ~as the beredi· ·
ta-ry holder of the office of mahant of the institution and that the institution· w~ ~-~
a Sikh Gurdwara ang was governed by the_ Act. ·
. The respo·,1dent, thereupon· flied an a.ppeal. in the High C~urt which\etd' ·
_that the institution '~s set up·by a mahant for commemorat.ing the memory of
hiS Guru and that the land o~ wbic;h the institution was set up·whh the gr~t
of Muafi had been donated by. a .Muslim ruler. After considering of [be
e~tries . in the· land records; the High Court fur'th~r he!<\ that institution was not
only ser~ing as a Gu(d\~ara for the worship of Granth Saheb but was also us~
as a Dera or lodging house or Sadhus ·'·or Faqirs 'of the Udasi Sect and 'that · .4.. .
there was a duality of fait he;. in the institution; The High Court conciuded lhac
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the institution was catering to .th~ ·religious ~fews and beliefs of both the sects
· ~m.ongst the local pop,ulali.on and that the .. Tribunal was ~n error in declaring~
·that the institution was a: ... Stkb Gudr~ara, wh1ch woufd permit one of the com. •
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munities to appro~tiate the institutioo to its exclllsive use and to cleprive the
other community or sect fro·rn the dual use to which the institution· has been put
evet since ft wa'\ founded or estabtished. Th:: High ~ourt, coJ_lsequently aUow-
ed the appeal and set aside the ~cia ration made. by
~l)e Tribuna 1.
· Dismis~ing the further. appeals ~ this Court ,
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S.G.P.C. ·v. MAllAl'·lT ·KIR.PAR.AM
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HJ;!LD : 1. The appraisal of the evidence by the High Court is correct a·nd .
~nexce~tional~ 'fhe evid~nce discloses .that the insdtution in question was not
$hown to h~ve been c:.stablished for' use by Sikhs for the purpose of public
wo~nip• and therefore one of the material conditions for attracting section;
J6{2,till) of the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925 was not established. It is immaterial
~that ·at .the time of. presentation oftbe petttion 1t was along with tli.e followers .
<Jf U~asi.Sect used foi. worship of Granth .Sahi~ by the. Sikhs. (3.82E·FJ .·
2. In orper .to bring a case under .section 16(2}(iii) of the Act it must not
·.only be established· .that the institution was established by Sikhs-for the purpose
-of public worship but was used for such worship by Sikhs before and at the time
<>f the presentation .of the petition. 1he. u~e of the corijunciive •and' 'clearly·
.imparts that in order ·to attract Sect~on l6(i)(iii) both the conditions must be .
• cumulatively satisfied. [380A-.B]
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Gurmukh Singh v. Risaldar Dtva Singh &: Ors .• ·AIR 1937 Lahore S77,
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3. Udasis form an independent sect ·: They do venerate Sikh Scrip'ture!l.
'Therefore, in an institution of Udasis sect, one can ·visualise reading of Granth
Sahib or veneration of Sikh scriptures. Tbat itseff is ~ot decisive oft he character
· -<>f tb'e fnstitution. If the succession . was from . Guru to Chela and those Gdrus
·were f.Uowets of Udasi faith and the institution. was known as Dera of Udasi
Bhekh 'and they follow~d some of the practices of Hindu traditional religion 'that
·would be completely destru:tive of the character of the institution as Sikh
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.Ourdwara. f381E-FJ
Mahant Daram Dass tic. v. The Siate of Punjtlb & Drs.
[19~~] 3 SCR 160
.Hem Singh & Ors. v. Basapt Das aud.Anr., Al~ 1936 PC 93 at IOO.and Pritam
l I.Da1s Mahant v: Shiromani Gurdwara Prabha,dak Comm(ttu, C.A. No. 1983 of
'1970 datedExcerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.