The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued notices to the Punjab Government and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in a plea challenging the registration of an FIR against a US citizen, Thaminder Singh Anand, for printing the Guru Granth Sahib in China and shipping it to other countries.
The High Court sought a response from the SGPC and the State Government on March 30 after Mr. Anand approached it on Saturday challenging the registration of the FIR against him.
Mr. Anand contended that there was no law or clause under the Sikh Gurdwara Act which prohibited the publication and distribution of Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
He challenged the merits of the FIR being registered on a complaint by the SGPC stating that “the sole right to print conferred upon the SGPC is self-created right under its own code of conduct” and thus had “no force of law".
It was on a complaint by SGPC against Mr. Anand in Amritsar that a case was registered by the police against him on November 28, 2014 for unauthorized printing of Guru Granth Sahib in China and then its shipment.
The FIR was registered under Secction 295 of Indian Penal Code for allegedly hurting the religious belief of Sikhs.
