No objection to Haryana gurdwara body: Punjab

AMBALA: The Punjab government has stated before the Supreme Court that it has no objection to a separate gurdwara management body in Haryana.
Punjab submitted its reply in a petition filed before the apex court by Harbhajan Singh, a Kurukshetra-based member of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).
The case will come up for hearing on February 4.
In July 2014, the Haryana assembly had passed the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Act 2014. After that a separate management body - Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras Management Committee (HSGMC) - was formed in the state. In the same year, Harbhajan had challenged the legislative competence of Haryana to enact a separate gurdwara management act before the SC.
The petitioner had relied on Entry No. 44 of List 1 to the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India that Haryana government did not have the power to enact a separate legislation for the state regarding gurdwara management as that power lay with Parliament.
Advocate Akash Nagar, who is appearing for HSGMC in the Supreme Court, said, "The next hearing is on February 4. In the last development, Vijay Singh Chouhan, under secretary to Punjab department of home affairs and justice, had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court on behalf of the Punjab Government on November 28, 2019."
The affidavit of Punjab government states clearly that it has no objection to a separate gurdwara management committee for Haryana, advocate Nagar said.