Haryana Amends 'Gurdwara Act'; Khalsa College Amritsar Collections Digitized

On 2 Aug, the Haryana state Cabinet approved amendments to the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Act, 2014. The revised law vests wide-ranging powers in a Judicial Commission, which will now oversee critical matters, including property disputes, committee governance, and service issues. According to the amendment, Section 17(2)(c)—which previously allowed the Gurdwara committee to remove its members—has been removed. The authority to remove or suspend members on grounds of misconduct will now lie with the Judicial Commission under the revised Section 46. The newly reconstituted Judicial Commission will have exclusive jurisdiction over issues such as voter eligibility, disqualifications, service matters of gurdwara employees, and selection and appointments in Gurdwara committees. To support its enhanced role, new Sections 46A to 46N have been introduced, conferring the Commission powers equivalent to a civil court (46B), barring jurisdiction of regular courts (46C), and protecting members from liability for acts done in good faith (46D). Commission orders will be enforceable like civil court decrees (46G), and its members will be deemed public servants (46F). The amendment also outlines a structured process for declaring and managing Sikh Gurdwaras under newly inserted Sections 55 to 55N. Gurdwaras will be classified into three types — Historical (Schedule I), Notified (Schedule II), with annual income of USD 23K or more, and Local (Schedule III). Meanwhile, in Panjab, the 90-year-old Sikh History Research Centre and Museum at Khalsa College, Amritsar which houses rare books, manuscripts and hand-written documents has been digitalized. The collection includes more than 6,274 books which include rare books in English and Panjabi dating back to 16th and 17th century. Experts Ahmad Ali and Sajjan Singh from Salarjung Museum, Hyderabad and their team took over one year's time to painstakingly digitalize and preserve the rare materials. 'The preservation work is almost complete and the galleries to display the material are being given the final shape,' said Khalsa College principal Dr. Mehal Singh. Apart from the library there are weapons belonging to the times of Khalsa Army and other Sikh Wars, besides old coins from the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1801-1839) (earlier coverage).