Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Act, 20161
| [Act 21 of 2016] | [5th May, 2016] |
An Act further to amend the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-seventh Year of the Republic of India as follow-
1 Received the assent of the President on May 5, 2016 and published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 1, dated 6th May, 2016, pp. 1-2, No. 24
Prefatory Note-Statement of Objects and Reasons.- In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 72 of the Punjab Re-organisation Act, 1966, the Central Government vide notification No. S.O. 1190(E), dated 8th October, 2003, modified the provisos to the Section 49 and Section 92 of the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 (Punjab Act VIII of 1925) thereby removing the exemption given to Sahjdhari Sikhs to enable them to vote in the elections to the members of the Board and the Committee constituted under the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925. However, the said notification was quashed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, vide judgment dated 20th December, 2011, leaving it for the appropriate and competent Legislature to decide to amend or not to amend the said Act.
2. The Bill proposes to amend the provisos to Section 49 and Section 92 of the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 retrospectively with effect from 8th October, 2003 for removing the exemption given to Sahjdhari Sikhs.
3. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objective.
1. Short title and commencement.-(1) This Act may be called the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Act, 2016.
(2) It shall be deemed to have come into force from 8th October, 2003.
2. Amendment of Section 49.-In the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 (Punjab Act VIII of 1925) (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), in Section 49, for the proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted, namely-
"Provided that no person shall be registered as an elector who-
(a) trims or shaves his beard or keshas;
(b) smokes; and
(c) takes alcoholic drinks.".
3. Amendment of Section 92.-In Section 92 of the principal Act, for the proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted, namely-
"Provided that no person shall be registered as an elector who-
(a) trims or shaves his beard or keshas;
(b) smokes; and
(c) takes alcoholic drinks.".