National

Sikhs as minority: stay on judgment

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed a judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which held that Sikhs are not “minorities” in Punjab and that they cannot claim minority rights.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on December 17, 2007, struck down a notification issued by the State government on April 13, 2001, permitting the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to give 50 per cent reservation to Sikh students in colleges run by it on the ground that Sikhs were a minority community.

A Bench of Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan and Justice M.K. Sharma granted the stay and issued notice to the respondents, Sahil Mittal and others, on special leave petitions filed by the Punjab government, the SGPC and two others.

The petitioners contended that the High Court erred in law by striking down the minority status of the Sikhs. They said that going by the definition of Sikh as explained in the Sikh Gurdwaras (SG) Act, 1925, only about 53 lakh, roughly one-third of the electoral college of the SGPC, were Sikhs as against the 1.66 crore total voters in the State.

“There are several sects like Nirankaris, followers of Dera Sacha Sauda and Radha Saomi who believe in ‘living gurus’ who could not be considered Sikhs according to the SG Act. If this is accepted then Sikhs are clearly a minority,” they said.

They prayed for quashing the judgment and an interim stay of its operation.

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