MAHANT TEHAL DASS Vs. SHIROMANI GURDWARA PARBANDHAK COMMITTEE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PURSUANT to the provisions of Sub -section (3) of Section 7 of the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 (hereinafter referred to as the Act), the State Government issued a notification, dated 26th June, 1966, regarding Gurdwara Smadh Baba Kair Dass situate within the revenue estate of village Faizulapur, Tehsil Sirhind. District Patiala. Mahant Tehal Dass, who claims to be a hereditary office -holder of the institution, which according to him belongs to the Udasi Bhekh, presented a petition under Section 8 of the Act claiming that the Samadh Baba Kair Dass was not a Sikh Gurdwara. He claimed to be the hereditary office -holder of the institution and averred that the office descended from Guru to Chela.

(2.) THIS petition was resisted on behalf of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar, (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) and it was pleaded that Mahant Tehal Dass Petitioner was not a hereditary office -holder of this institution and thus he had no locus standi to file a petition under Section 8 of the Act. It was further claimed that the institution in question is a Sikh Gurdwara within the ambit of the provisions of Section 16(2)(iii) of the Act. On the pleadings of the parties, the Sikh Gurdwaras Tribunal, Punjab, Chandigarh, (hereinafter referred to as the Tribunal) framed the following issues:

(3.) AFTER a full -fledged trial, the Tribunal came to the conclusion that the Petitioner had failed to prove himself as a hereditary office -holder and thus the Petitioner had no locus standi to file the petition. The Tribunal consequently dismissed the petition.