New Delhi : After protests from Punjab, the Centre on Friday asked the Haryana Governor to withdraw the assent granted to a Bill aiming to create a separate Sikh Gurdwara management Committee, saying the state assembly did not have legal authority to enact such a law and it was thus ‘void’, reports
PTI.
In a letter to Haryana Chief Secretary S C Choudhary, Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami said the ‘Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Bill, 2014’ passed by the state assembly on July 11, to which the Governor accorded his assent on July 14, has “no legal effect” and be withdrawn before any further complications arise.
“Accordingly, the state government of Haryana may kindly bring the above facts to the notice of the Governor and request the Governor to withdraw the assent given by him to the bill in view of the fact that the state legislature had no legislative competence and the bill passed is void and of no legal effect before any or further complications arise,” Goswami said in his letter to Choudhary.
The letter comes after Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, along with party MPs, had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and M Venkaiah Naidu seeking the Centre’s intervention to annul the Haryana government’s move to form a separate SGPC for the state.
After the long deliberations between the Union Ministers and Badal, the Centre had sought legal opinion from the Attorney General of India who opined that Haryana state legislature had no jurisdiction to pass such a law.
“The state legislature is, therefore, denuded of any jurisdiction to pass any bill in respect of which only parliament has exclusive power to enact a law,” the Attorney General said in his opinion to the Centre.
Punjab government has been maintaining that Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) – which manages key Sikh shrines, was formed under the Central Gurdwara Act, 1925, during the British times and Haryana had no legal authority to enact a law for separate SGPC to manage gurdwaras in the state.
The Attorney General’s opinion, which has been sent to Haryana government for necessary action, stated “the law is already in place since 1925 and there is no justification for Haryana legislature to have passed a law on the same subject matter, taking away the jurisdiction of the Board/Corporation on the basis of 1925 Act.”
“In fact, by virtue of Section 54, the Haryana Legislature has declared that the provisions of the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925 shall not apply within the territory of Haryana,” the Attorney General further said.
Punjab has been agitating against Haryana’s move to pass a law and the state Chief Minister has been camping in Delhi, seeking the Centre’s intervention.
Badal has termed the Haryana law as one which has been “politically motivated” and said it is aimed at getting ruling Congress in the state led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda political benefits in coming assembly elections in the state.
Haryana is slated to have assembly elections in October this year as the term of the current assembly ends on October 27, 2014.
Badal has accused Congress leadership of hatching a conspiracy to create a separate SGPC for Haryana, saying it is “unconstitutional” and in “violation” of the existing Sikh Gurdwara Act.
SEPARATE SGPC
