The Punjab Legislative Assembly on Tuesday passed the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023 moved by the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government. The Bill was aimed at making the telecast of ‘Gurbani’ from Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) free for all, without the requirement of any tender. ‘Gurbani’ refers to compositions of Sikh Gurus and other writers of Guru Granth Sahib, usually enshrined as hymns within the holy scripture.

The Bill, cleared by the Mann Cabinet on Monday, amends the British-era Sikh Gurdwaras Act, of 1925. The Bill will hit the monopoly of Punjabi television network PTC, a channel linked to Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal. The decision is in line with the Chief Minister’s earlier stand questioning the monopoly of one channel over the telecast of the Gurbani.

Also Read: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann moves to free Gurbani telecast rights, faces Opposition backlash

In May this year, the AAP government had offered to bear all the expenditure to install high-end techniques so that Gurbani can be telecast on all channels, free of cost.

CM Mann, who announced that the government will move a Bill to amend the British-era Act in the state Assembly, was met with stern opposition from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). Speaking to ANI, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said that the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, is a central Act and the state government had no jurisdiction to make amendments to it.

Also Read: Punjab govt sets up task force to probe complaints against private schools

He said that the amendment could only be brought in by the Centre in the Lok Sabha after consulting the SGPC, which is an elected body of the Sikhs. “Punjab Government can’t interfere in any manner. They don’t have the right…They are trying to politicise this and I strongly condemn this. I urge Bhagwant Mann to not do anything like this,” SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami told ANI.

However, Mann dismissed the SGPC’s objections over the state government’s jurisdiction and said that it was well within its powers to amend the Act. The Chief Minister also cited the judgments of the Supreme Court, including the one in a case on a separate gurdwara committee for Haryana, where the top court ruled that this Act was not an inter-state Act, but a state Act.