Sikhs not minority in Punjab, SC stays HC order

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has stayed a Punjab High Court order that declared Sikhs are not a minority in Punjab.

The Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee had challenged the High Court order.

The High Court had last year dismissed a state government notification declaring Sikhs a minority in Punjab.

The notification had sought 50 per cent reservation for Sikh students in Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee-run educational institutions.

The Punjab government has welcomed the Supreme Court order.

Punjab government advocate general HS Mattewal said, “We were always of the view that Sikhs are in minority in Punjab. This will help us in their upliftment."

A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan stayed the operation of impugned judgement on the petition filed by the state of Punjab and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee(SGPC), challenging High Court ruling that declared the Sikhs as a majority community in Punjab.

According to the High Court, the Sikhs constituted 52 per cent of the total population of the state and therefore the Sikh community cannot be given the minority status in Punjab.

The petitioners however assailed the High Court judgement on the grounds that there are large number of sects and all of them are not Sikhs and everyone wearing turban cannot be called a Sikh.

The High Court has failed to appreciate this fact and therefore the judgement of the High Court is liable to be set aside.