Notwithstanding the fierce opposition by Sikh institutions and the community, the Maharashtra government has proposed to repeal the Nanded Sikh Gurdwara Sachkhand Sri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib Act, 1956, that deals with the administrative affairs of Takht Hazur Sahib at Nanded.
The Cabinet, headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, has approved scrapping of the 70-year-old legislation, which “stands outdated, unable to keep pace with expanding pilgrim numbers and a complex institutional ecosystem”.
The draft Bill, once passed, will result in fresh rules governing the administration, elections and bylaws of the gurdwara board. At present, the shrine board is lying defunct, and the Takht affairs are being looked after by an administrator.
The Panthic caretakers of Takht Hazur Sahib, meanwhile, have issued a gurmata (collective religious edict) rejecting the proposal.
Contested move
Built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Takht is one of the five high seats of authority of the Sikhs. This is the place where Guru Gobind Singh is believed to have breathed his last.
The push for a new law governing Takht Hazur Sahib is rooted in recommendations of a state-appointed (Justice Bhalla) committee.
Former board secretary Ravinder Singh Bungai says the government plans to table the draft Bill in the ongoing Assembly session. “There is absolutely no demand from any Sikh sect to repeal or alter the 1956 Act. Still, the government intends to control the Takht affairs for vested political interests,” he claims.
On the board’s status, he says, “The board was suspended by the state government in 2022. It’s been seven months since the high court ruling to revive the board, but the government has challenged it in the Supreme Court.”
Genesis of governance conflict
Dr Amarjit Singh, Director of Sikh Studies Chair at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, terms it an “uninvited” and “unnecessary” move.
“Who demanded amendments to the 1956 Act? Apparently, looking at the protests in the past, the government has shifted its strategy from amending the law to repealing it and replacing it with a new Act, but it will end up reigniting the standoff with the Sikh Panth,” he says.
According to Dr Singh, the 17-member management board set up under Section 5 of the 1956 legislation “was carefully structured to balance local, regional, and national Sikh representation”.
The government only controlled three out of 17 seats. The remaining 14 members were independent Sikh representatives. The board consisted of four members nominated by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), three Sikh MPs nominated by the Centre, and one member each nominated by the Amritsar-based Chief Khalsa Diwan (CKD) as well as the Sachkhand Hazuri Khalsa Diwan, Nanded.
To widen representation, three members were elected from among the Sikh community in the Marathwada region (initially Hyderabad state, later part of Maharashtra) and two across other designated areas of the state/neighbouring regions among Madhya Pradesh/Telangana Sikhs.
Swinging control
Sikh organisations view the legislative overhaul as a direct attempt to seize bureaucratic and financial control of the historic shrine.
SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami has appealed to the Maharashtra CM to withdraw the move. Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) chief Harmeet Singh Kalka says “past record shows that the government’s intention is to have a dominating presence”.
Kalka says “when the 1956 legislation was enacted, the Delhi Sikh body was not in existence. That’s why there was no representative of Delhi Sikhs. We demand that rectification”.
Dr Anurag Singh, former director of the Sikh Itihas Board at the SGPC, says the lack of Sikh unity has led to a gradual expansion of government interference. “Had the All India Sikh Gurdwara Act been implemented, such discrepancies would have been reined in. A centralised Panthic command would have controlled the Takhts and historic shrines across the nation. Unfortunately, it was not to be, for political and religious vested interests. The lack of unity in the Sikh community and eroding credibility of Sikh institutions led to an increasing reliance on political nomination rather than a Panthic consensus,” he adds.
Earlier attempts to induct appointees
In February 2024, the Maharashtra government amended the Act, drastically expanding direct government nominees from three to 12 on the 17-member board. Simultaneously, it halved SGPC’s representation to two, ended nomination seats of CKD and Hazuri Sachkhand Diwan, and also did away with reservation for Sikh MPs.
A massive protest by the SGPC and local Sikh organisations compelled the Eknath Shinde government to roll it back. Earlier, in August 2023, the government appointed a non-Sikh Nanded Collector as the administrator of the board, but later changed track.
In 2019, the government was inclined to increase its representation, but took a U-turn after then Union minister Harsimrat Badal and various Sikh organisations objected. In July 2018, it proposed to include six more of its members on the board, but revoked it. In 2015, the state government amended Section 11 of the Act to grant itself the power to appoint the gurdwara board chief, rather than letting the 17 members elect their leader. This sparked massive protests.
How the Takhts are governed
It is said that the seats of temporal authority (Takhts) derive authority from the Panth, not from statutes, yet the five Takhts do not operate under a single unified administrative system.
The three Takhts in Punjab — Akal Takht, Takht Sri Damdama Sahib in Talwandi Sabo, and Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib in Anandpur Sahib — are managed directly by the SGPC under the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925. Takht Sri Patna Sahib is governed by an independent local panel.
