`Guru Granth Sahib, a juristic person: SC India`

By T. Padmanabha Rao The Hindu (www.hinduonline.com)NEW DELHI, APRIL 2. The Supreme Court in a judgment of ``far- reaching consequences and great significance'' has ruled that ``Guru Granth Sahib is a juristic person'' Therefore ``it can hold and use the gifted properties given to it by its followers out of love, in charity'' and ``this is by creation of an endowment like others for the public good, for enhancing the religious fervour including feeding the poor,'' a Bench said. Mr. Justice A. P. Misra, delivering the judgment on examination of merits in an appeal from the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee, held that ``mutation'' made in the revenue papers concerned (in respect of lands and other immovable property) as far back as in 1928 in the name of ``Guru Granth Sahib Barajman Dharamshala Deh'' (Patiala district) was valid and that the disputed property belonged to the SGPC. The Bench, which included Mr. Justice M. Jaganadha Rao, allowing related appeals from the SGPC against a Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment, said it ``committed a serious mistake of law in holding that Guru Granth Sahib was not a juristic person and in allowing the claim over this property (in question) in favour of the respondents''. The Bench, after referring to certain authorities of the Sikh religion and earlier judgments, observed that ``the last living guru, Govind Singh, expressed in no uncertain terms that henceforth there would not be any living guru'' and that Guru Granth Sahib would be the vibrating guru. Guru Govind Singh declared that ``henceforth it would be your guru from which you will get all your guidance and answer,'' the Bench said. ``It is with this faith it is worshipped like a living guru and it is with this faith and conviction, when it is installed in any gurdwara it becomes a sacred place of worship.'' ``Sacredness of a gurdwara is only because of placement of Guru Granth Sahib in it and this reverential recognition of Guru Granth Sahib also opens the hearts of its followers to pour their money and wealth to it and it is not that it needs it, but when it is installed, it grows for its followers, who through their obeisance to it, sanctify themselves and also for running the langar which is an inherent part of a gurdwara,'' the Bench noted. ``Guru Granth Sahib cannot be equated with an `idol' as idol worship is contrary to Sikhism and as a concept or a visionary for obeisance, the two religions are different,'' the Bench said. Yet ``for its legal recognition as a juristic person, the followers of both the religions have given them respectively the same reverential value, and thus Guru Granth Sahib has all the qualities to be recognised as such.'' ``If entrustment (of a donor's property) is to any juristic person, mere absence of a `manager' would not negate the existence a juristic person,'' the apex court held and disagreed with the High Court. ``An idol (in a temple) becomes a juristic person only when it is consecrated and installed at a public place for the public at large'', and every `idol' is not a juristic person'' and so ``every Guru Granth Sahib cannot be a juristic person unless it takes a juristic role through its installation in a gurdwara or at such recognised public place,'' the Bench pointed out. ``Though it is true Guru Granth Sahib is a sacred book like others, it cannot be equated with these other sacred books in that sense'', the Bench observed and added that ``Guru Granth Sahib is revered in gurdwara, like a `Guru' which projects a different perception'' and ``it is the very heart and spirit of a gurdwara''. ``The reverence of Guru Granth Sahib on the one hand and other sacred books (like the Bhagavad Gita, the Quran and the Bible) on the other, is based on different conceptual faith, belief and application'', the Bench noted. ``It is true that the Sikh religion does not accept idolatry but, at the same time when the tenth guru declared that after him, the Guru Granth will be the Guru, that does not amount to idolatry'' and ``the Granth places the guru after the tenth Guru'', the Bench said. ``Sikhism grew because of the vibrating divinity of Guru Nanakji and the 10 succeeding gurus, and the wealth of all their teachings is contained in `Guru Granth Sahib'. The last of the living guru was Guru Govind Singhji who recorded the sanctity of ``Guru Granth Sahib'' and gave it the recognition of a living Guru'' and ``thereafter, it remained not only a sacred book but is reckoned as a living guru,'' the Bench noted.

SC declares Guru Granth Sahib as 'juristic person'
India-Today
New Delhi, April 2: In a significant ruling having bearing on thousands of Gurdwaras in the country, the Supreme Court has ruled that the holy book of Sikhs Guru Granth Sahib is a juristic person and can hold property in its name.

Reversing a judgement of Punjab and Haryana High Court, a Division Bench, comprising Justice M. Jagannadha Rao and Justice A.P. Misra, said "We have no hesitation to hold that Guru Granth Sahib is a juristic person".

"Holding otherwise would mean giving too restrictive a meaning of a ‘juristic person’, and that would erase the very jurisprudence which gave birth to it," the bench added.

Fifty-six persons in village Bilaspur, Patiala district in Punjab had put claim over the property in the name of Guru Granth Sahib, which they contended, could not be called a juristic person being a holy book.

Without equating idols, which are already held to be juristic persons by the apex court, with the holy book of Sikhs, the bench said, "It is not necessary for Guru Granth Sahib to be declared as a juristic person that it should be equated with an idol.”

"When belief and faith of two different religions are different, there is no question of equating one with the other. If Guru Granth Sahib by itself could stand the test of its being declared as such, it can be declared to be so," Justice Misra said, writing the judgement for the bench.

Referring to the significance of the holy book of Sikhs, the bench said the last living guru, Guru Gobind Singh, had categorically made it clear that there would no living guru after him and that Guru Granth Sahib would be the guiding force for the community.

"It is with this faith that it (the book) is worshipped like a living guru. It is with this faith and conviction, when it is installed in any Gurdwara, it becomes a sacred place of worship," Justice Misra said.

He said the sacredness of a Gurdwara was only because of placement of Guru Granth Sahib in it. The persons, who claimed rights over the land belonging to the holy book, contended that Guru Granth Sahib was like any other sacred book, like Bible for Christians, Bhagwat Geeta and Ramayan for Hindus and Quran for Islamic followers and could not be a juristic person.

Rejecting this contention, the apex court said "though it is true Guru Granth Sahib is a sacred book like others, but it cannot be equated with these other sacred books in that sense."

Differentiating the holy book of Sikhs from that of other religions, Justice Misra said "Guru Granth Sahib is revered in Gurdwara, like a ‘guru’, which projects a different perception. It is the very heart and spirit of the Gurdwara.

"The reverence of Guru Granth Sahib on one hand and other sacred books on the other hand is based on different conceptual faith, belief and application," he said.

Last updated on : November 11, 2001