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The Delhi High court today directed the Directorate of Gurudwara Elections, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi to treat as a representation and decide a plea seeking declaration of criminal antecedents of candidates contesting the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) elections.

The division bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh was hearing a plea filed by Adv. Kuljeet Singh Sachdeva seeking action against candidates as per the directions given in the judgment of Supreme Court in  “Public Interest Foundation v. Union of India  (Writ Petition No. 536/2011) and contempt petition Ram Babu Singh Thakur v. Sunil Arora (Contempt Petition no. 2192 of 2020).

Advocates Rajat Wadhwa and Harpreet Singh Hora appearing for petitioner argued that “it is matter of common knowledge that many contestants have criminal antecedents but such antecedents are not brought to the knowledge of the voters, since the judgment of the Supreme Court is not implemented by the Directorate in conducting the elections.”

The Court however directed the petitioner to approach the Directorate of Gurudwara Elections and directed the Directorate to take a decision on the representation as expeditiously as possible.

Earlier the High Court was informed by the Delhi Government that the elections of the Committee were being delayed due to the Covid-19 crisis in the city. The court was also informed that the elections would begin from Aug 22 and the results would be out by the end of August.

Case Title: Kuljeet Singh Sachdeva vs Director, Gurudwara Elections & Ors.
Edited by Shreya Agarwal