Registration of voters for SGPC elections to start in two weeks

AMRITSAR : The registration of voters for the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) elections is set to start within two weeks, gurdwara elections chief commissioner Justice (retd) SS Saron said.

“We will address the demands raised by individuals and organisations. For example, there is demand for reducing the voter age limit from 21 to 18. After going through these demands, we will send our recommendations to the Union government for approval. We will ask the deputy commissioners to review pro formas for voter registration and update them,” he said.

About the poll schedule, he said, “That is the prerogative of the Centre under the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925.” Saron, who was appointed the chief commissioner in October 2020, added, “The Covid-19 outbreak delayed the elections. Also, we cannot update the electoral rolls. We have to look into the process in light of the new legislation which barred sehajdhari Sikhs (Sikhs with shorn hair) from voting. We will also have to enroll more voters if the age limit is relaxed. It is a long process and a lot of work will have to be done before polling.”

Also, the chief commissioner will have to look into the two court cases — one related to challenging the enactment of a separate committee for management of gurdwaras by the Haryana government and other of the sehajdhari Sikh voting rights issue. The cases are pending in the Supreme Court and the HC.

It has been 10 years since the elections were held due to a dispute over voting rights to the sehajdhari Sikhs. Of a total of 191 members of the SGPC general house, 170 members are elected by the adult Sikhs with ballot papers. Fifteen are nominated to the house as co-opted members.

In December 2011, the HC had nullified the polls as it restored the voting rights of sehajdhari Sikhs by quashing the 2003 notification of the central government. Based on that notification, sehajdhari Sikhs were not allowed to vote in the 2011 elections, but the court in a hearing made it clear that the poll results would be subject to the verdict in the sehajdhari voting rights case.

In February 2012, the SGPC moved the Supreme Court challenging the HC order. In 2016, the apex court while reinstating the 2011 SGPC House referred to an amendment by Parliament where the Sikh Gurdwaras Act was amended to deny voting rights to sehajdhari Sikhs with retrospective effect from 2003.