JOIN USPunjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s threat to resign and lead an agitation against Haryana’s move for a separate Sikh body has prompted the Centre to toy with the idea of making a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court to interpret the Gurdwara Act of 1925 as to whether a state government had the authority to pass a law on the issue.
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitely on Friday.
Punjab has held that the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), the supreme body of Sikhs for the management of gurdwaras, was formed under the Central Gurdwara Act, 1925, and Haryana has no legal authority to enact a law for a separate SGPC. The Centre last week asked the Haryana governor to withdraw the assent granted to a bill which aims to create a separate gurdwara management committee.