E-Paper
Gurbani telecast row: Punjab cabinet nod to amend Gurdwaras Act
Sikh Gurdwara (Amendment) Act 2023 to be tabled in House today; Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann says idea is to break the monopoly of a single channel over telecast rights; SGPC, SAD condemn move
The Punjab cabinet on Monday approved an amendment to the Sikh Gurdwaras Act-1925 to ensure “free-to-air” telecast of Gurbani from Amritsar’s Golden Temple on all media platforms.
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann said the amendment bill will be introduced in the state assembly on Tuesday, the second day of its two-day session.
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, in a press conference, said, “We have decided to amend the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925 as Sikh Gurdwara (Amendment) Act 2023 by inserting Section 125A for live telecast of Gurbani free-of-cost.”
The move has been strongly opposed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), who termed it an “interference in Sikh matters”. The CM, however, said the idea behind the amendment is to break the monopoly of a single channel over the broadcast rights of Gurbani.
The Act of 1925 governs the functioning of the SGPC which manages at least 100 gurdwaras in the state, including the Harmandar Sahib (Golden Temple), and also allots rights for telecast of Gurbani. For the past many years, PTC, a private news-cum-entertainment channel, known to be pro-Akalis, has held the right to telecast Gurbani from Harmandar Sahib.
SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, who has stakes in PTC, faces allegations of monopolising the Gurbani telecast, a charge he has refuted on several occasions.
Meanwhile, CM Mann, read out the provisions of the proposed Section 125A, to be inserted in the existing Act: “It shall be the duty of the board (SGPC) to propagate the teachings of the Gurus by making available uninterrupted (without any onscreen running advertisement and commercial distortions), live feed (audio and, audio and video) of the holy Gurbani from Harmandar Sahib free-of-cost to all media houses, platforms, channels or who ever wishes to broadcast it.”
Gurdwara Act 1925, a state Act: CM
Challenging the claims of the SGPC that only the Parliament can amend the Gurdwara Act 1925, the CM clarified that the Act of 1925 is a state act, referring to a Supreme Court judgement.
“The Apex Court has upheld the validity of Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Act 2014 dismissing the petition filed by the SGPC,” explained the CM, adding that it (SC) had held that the Act of 1925 was originally an inter-state legislation enacted by state legislature and it subsequently become an inter-state body only by the virtue of Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966.
Reading the Apex Court judgment of 2022, the CM added, “...therefore the state would have powers to legislate both under entry 28 of the concurrent list and entry 32 of the state list in the seventh schedule of the constitution for the reason that 1925 Act is not an interstate body corporate in respect of which the Parliament incorporated such board.”
According to Mann, he is not curbing anyone’s rights or trying to favour anyone, but only trying to make sure that the Gurbani is broadcast worldwide, free-of-cost.
He added that Sukhbir Singh Badal-owned television channel PTC was allotted the contract 11 years ago by the SGPC and it is expiring in July. “I am not stopping the said channel and want it (PTC) to also broadcast Gurbani along with all the other TV channels, media platforms and even the radio platforms.”
Punjab alone can’t amend Act: SC advocate
“The move to make available the facility of broadcasting Gurbani to all channels is a welcome step but anything done good by way of a wrong method can’t be good,” said HS Phoolka, a Supreme Court advocate.
“It (Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925) is an interstate act and it implies to two states Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and Union territory of Chandigarh, which Punjab can’t amend alone. Also, the amendment can’t be done without consulting SGPC as mandated in the Nehru-Master Tara Singh pact.
In the legal framework, precedence and law have equal weightage, so this can’t be ignored,” said Phoolka, adding the once approved in the state legislative assembly, the bill will go to the governor for his nod.
Counter views
Anupam Gupta, a senior advocate, however, differed with Phoolka and said that the Punjab legislature is fully competent to pass such a law, especially in view of the recent order by the SC of September 2022, upholding the validity of Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Act 2014. “The issue is within the legislative competence of the Punjab legislature and also constitutionally valid,” he said.
According to senior advocate Kanwaljit Singh, the very idea of amendment amounts to interference in the religious matters. “In case there is any illegality in the process of allotting tenders, the state government could have interfered.” he said.
