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SGPC's Affidavit on High Court
In the High
Court for the States for Punjab
and Haryana At Chandigarh
C.W.P. No.
13282 of 2008-12-10
Gurleen Kaur and
others
.. Petitioners
Versus
State of Punjab
and others.
.. Respondents
Affidavit of
Harbeant Singh, Secretary, Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee,
Teja Singh Samundri Hall, Sri Amritsar Sahib.
I, the above
named deponent do hereby solemnly affirm and declare as under:-
1. That the
deponent is the Secretary of Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak
Committee, Amritsar Sahib and being in knowledge of the facts
present case, is competent to file the present affidavit.
2. That the
present affidavit is being filed in compliance with t he directions
contained in the orders of this Hon’ble court dated 29.9.2008. In
consequences of the aforementioned directions of this Hon’ble Court,
a General House Meeting of the S.G.P.C. considered the issue as
regards the query of this Hon’ble Court on 22.11.2008 and in the
meeting it as resolved to constitute a Committee of Scholars/Legal
experts and Representatives of the SGPC to give an opinion based
upon historical, theological and philosophical perspective.
3. That the
matter was deliberated by the Committee and the report was forwarded
the Executive Committee of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak
Committee for approval.
4. That the
Executive Committee of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee
has considered the report submitted by the Committee in its meeting
held on 3.12.2008.
5. That based
upon the above consideration the stand of the Shiromani Gurdwara
Prabandhak Committee in response to the query raised by this Hon’ble
Court in its order dated 29.9.2008, is as under.
(i). The
definitions of various words and phrases, used in the Sikh Gurdwra
Act, 1925 are provided in Section 2 of the said Act. These
definitions are relevant for the purpose of the interpretation of
the substantive provisions of the said Act.
(ii) As
per Section 2(10-A) a Sahajdhari Sikh is a person (i) who performs
ceremonies according to Sikh rites, (ii) who does not use tobacco,
Kutha, Halal meat in any form, (iii) who is not a Patit (Apostate),
and (iv) who can recite Mulmantra (Proem to Sri Guru Granth Sahib).
The word Sahajdhari consists of two words Sahaj = slowly; dhari = to
adopt. Hence Sahajdhari Sikhs are those novices who were born in
non-sikh families, and who expressed their desire to adopt Sikhism
slowly and gradually, adopt its doctrines, ethics and tenets with
belief in Shri Guru Granth Sahib and Ten Gurus. A Sahajdhari,
therefore, is a novice who has entered the path of Sikhism, and he
will continue to be so till he fully accepts the moral and spiritual
vows of Sikhism, to be called a practicing Sikh professing Sikhism.
Once a Sahajdhari becomes a Keshadhari Sikh, he under no
circumstances by cutting/trimming his/her hair, beard, eye-brows in
any manner can claim to be a Sahajdhari Sikh. Similarly, a Sikh
born into a Sikh family cannot claim to be a Sahjadhari Sikh by
trimming/cutting his/her hair, beard or eye-brows in any manner.
6. That the
present affidavit is being filed in the context of the
aforementioned writ petition only and reflects the stand of the SGPC
in response to the specific query raised by this Hon’ble Court in
its order dated 29.9.2008.
Chandigarh
Sd/-
Dated:
5/12/08
Deponent
17 December
2008
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