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3. The first writ petition has been filed by a resident of Haryana and an elected representative of Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee 4 from Kurukshetra. The ground of challenge is that the Haryana Act is 2 For short, the ‘1925 Act’ 3 For short, the ‘1966 Act’ 4 For short, the ‘SGPC’ against the constitutional provisions, the statutory provisions of the 1966 Act and is also divisive in its intention to create dissentions amongst the followers of the Sikh religion. The writ petition was subsequently amended to challenge the Haryana Act on the ground of infringement of fundamental rights conferred on the petitioner under Part III of the Constitution. The second writ petition has been preferred by the SGPC challenging the Haryana Act on almost similar grounds.

5. It is submitted that the 1925 Act was enacted to provide for better 5 For short, the ‘Haryana Committee’ administration of certain Sikh Gurdwaras and for enquiries into matters and settlement of disputes connected therewith. The 1925 Act received the assent of the Governor General on 28.7.1925 and was published in the Punjab Gazette on 7.8.1925 and thereafter it came into force on 1.11.1925. The 1925 Act extends to the territories which immediately before 1.11.1956 were comprised in the State of Punjab and Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU). It is pointed out that the management of every notified Sikh Gurdwara is required to be administered by the Committee constituted thereof, the Board and the Commission in accordance with the provisions of the Act. SGPC is the Board so constituted under Section 43. The Board consists of 170 elected members; the Head Ministers of the Darbar Sahib, Amritsar; Sri Akal Takhat Sahib, Amritsar; Sri Takhat Keshgarh Sahib, Anandpur; Sri Takhat Patna Sahib, Patna; Sri Hazur Sahib, Nanded; and Sri Takhat Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, Bathinda, Punjab and 15 members who are residents in India, of whom not more than 5 shall be residents of Punjab, co-opted by the other members of the Board. The jurisdictional area of the Act has been divided into 120 constituencies as there are 50 plural constituencies, each returning 2 members for the election of 170 members. Furthermore, the 1925 Act envisages a scheme for the administration and management of the property, endowments, funds and income of the Gurdwaras as described in Section 85(1). For every such notified Sikh Gurdwara other than a Gurdwara specified in Section 85, a Committee shall be constituted after it has been declared to be a Sikh Gurdwara consisting of 5 members as provided under Section 87. The Gurdwaras covered by the 1925 Act are spread over the present States of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Chandigarh and are being administered by the SGPC.

26. Hence, the argument is that the Haryana Act violates the mandate of Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution.

20. The SGPC challenged the Haryana Act, inter alia, on the ground that the legislature of the State of Haryana has taken away the right of administration of Gurdwaras and its properties situated in the State of Haryana from SGPC and handed it over to the Haryana Committee. It is the stand of SGPC that it is running various charitable activities in the State of Haryana i.e., schools, colleges, hospitals and other religious institutions and also managing the Gurdwaras situated in the State of Haryana. SGPC thus has a fundamental right under Article 26 to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes. It was stated as under:

48. The said judgment is not applicable to the facts of the present case though it deals with Entry 44 of List I and Entry 32 of List II. The Court was dealing with the legality of the Constitutional Amendment and found that it is entirely for the States to legislate in respect of cooperative societies falling in Entry 32 of List II. It is only multi-State cooperative societies which fall within the power of the Parliament to legislate in terms of Entry 44. The amendment made by Parliament in respect of co-operative societies was not with the approval of half of the States. The said judgment has no applicability to the facts of the present case as the Haryana Act does not have any extra-territorial jurisdiction that it is not applicable to more than one State. The SGPC was a Board which was intra-State body corporate prior to reorganisation of the State in the year 1966. The reorganisation has rendered the SGPC as an inter-State body corporate but the legislative power to legislate on the subject of incorporation of the Corporations would be within the jurisdiction of the Haryana State Legislature. Entry 32 deals with unincorporated trading, literary, scientific, religious and other societies and associations. In respect of such unincorporated trading, literary, scientific, religious and other societies and associations, the competent legislature is the State. In terms of Entry 44 of List I, the Parliament will have jurisdiction only if the SGPC under the 1925 Act continues to be an inter-State entity. The jurisdiction of the successor States either to repeal, modify or enact a new law has not been restricted by the 1966 Act, though it is a special law within the meaning of Articles 2, 3 and 4 of the Constitution. The SGPC became inter-State body corporate not because of Entry 44 List I but because of reorganisation of the territories of the erstwhile State of Punjab. Therefore, Entry 44 would have no applicability in respect of legislative competence of the State of Haryana to enact the Haryana Act.