New Delhi: While deciding to examine whether Sikhs are a minority in Punjab, the Supreme Court on Monday sought the assistance of the Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to decide the important issue.
A five-judge Constitution bench comprising the Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justices Ibrahim Kalifulla, S.A. Bode, A.K. Sikri and R. Banumathi issued notice returnable in four weeks.
The apex court in 2009 had 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 HC 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 quota to Sikh students in colleges run by it on the ground that Sikhs were a minority. Appeals against this judgement were filed by the State of Punjab, the SGPC and two others.
The appellants contended that the HC 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.
