Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Gurdwara Manji Sahib vs Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Teja Singh Samundri Hall, Amritsar

Alka Sarin, J

The present revision petition has been filed under Article 227 of the Constitution of India praying for a stay of execution of an ex-parte judgment dated

16.02.2019 and an ex-parte order dated 16.02.2019 passed by the Sikh Gurdwara Judicial Commission, Amritsar, (hereinafter referred to as the

“Commissionâ€​) whereby a Receiver had been appointed .

Brief facts, relevant to the present case, are that the election of the Committee was held in the year 2005-06. As per the provisions of Section 101 of

the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, (hereinafter referred to as the “Actâ€) the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (for short,

‘SGPC’) is to call the first meeting of the elected Committee and under their supervision the Members of the Committee are to elect the

President, Vice President and each Member so elected would hold office until he resigns or ceases to be a Member. The SGPC is stated to have

called the first meeting of the Members on 08.07.2006. The constituted committee consisted of five members, namely, Rajinder Singh, Kehar Singh,

Charan Singh, Gurdeep Singh and Bahadur Singh. Rajinder Singh was elected as President and Kehar Singh was elected as Vice President. It is the

case set up by the petitioner that the Committee had been working smoothly for the betterment of the Gurdwara in question without any allegations of

misappropriation of funds of the Gurdwara from any quarter. It is further the case set up by the petitioner that on 21.02.2019, the petitioner was

shocked to know from an unknown person that a Receiver had been appointed by the Commission vide order dated 16.02.2019. The petitioner, on

enquiry, found out that it had been proceeded against ex-parte vide order dated 01.07.2017 and thereafter the judgment and order dated 16.02.2019

were passed. The petitioner is stated to have filed an applica tion immediately under Order 9, Rule 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908,

(hereinafter referred to as the “CPCâ€) for setting aside the judgment dated 16.02.2019 and the subsequent order dated 16.02.2019 whereby the

Receiver was appointed . The application under Order 9 Rule 13 CPC was accompanied by application for stay. It is further the case set up by the

petitioner that despite the pendency of the application before the Commission the Receiver had threatened to take over possession of the Gurdwara in

question ignoring the request of the petitioner that the application for setting aside the judgment dated 16.02.2019 along with the stay application was

pending.

I have heard the learned counsel for the parties.

It has been contended by the learned c ounsel for the petitioner that till such time the application filed by the petitioner for setting aside the ex-parte

judgment dated 16.02.2019 and order dated 16.02.2019 or at least till such time the stay application is not adjudicated upon the Receiver be restrained

from implementing the judgment dated 16.02.2019 and the order dated 16.02.2019 and the said judgment and order be kept in abeyance. It has further

been contended that if the aforesaid ex-parte judgment dated 16.02.2019 and order dated 16.02.2019 are executed the remedy availed by the

petitioner would be virtually rendered infructuous.

Per contra, learned counsel for the respondent has contended that there is no interim order of stay in favour of the petitioner and, therefore, the

Receiver was well within his right to take over the possession and management of the Gurdwara in question.

In view of the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case as also the fact that the petitioner-Committee has been running the Gurdwara since the

year 2005-06, the ends of justice would be served by issuance of a direction to the Commission to decide the application for stay within a period of 15

days from the date of receipt of a copy of this order after hearing the parties. Till then, the judgment dated 16.02.2019 and the order dated 16.02.2019

shall be kept in abeyance.

The revision petition is disposed of with the afore - mentioned directions.