Gurudwara A Pious Place, Misappropriation Of Its Funds Hurts Sentiments Of People: Punjab & Haryana High Court

"The Gurudwara is a pious place and the misappropriation of its funds hurts the sentiments of several people," the Punjab and Haryana High Court observed recently as it denied anticipatory bail to certain persons accused of siphoning off the funds of Gurudwara Singh Sabha in Barwala town of Hisar District in Haryana.

Noting that the petitioners are required for custodial interrogation to recover the amount and to take the investigation to its logical conclusion, the bench of Justice Harnaresh Singh Gill added that setting the petitioners free would set a bad example and would give oxygen to the fraudsters.

The case before the Court

The Court was essentially dealing with the pre-arrest bail pleas of petitioners, who are the competent members of the Gurudwara Singh Sabha, Barwala (Sikh Temple), and were responsible for doing all the activities of Gurudwara. 

As per the case of the prosecution, there were several FDRs in the name of the Gurudwara Singh Sabha, which were supposed to get matured in December 2022, however, the accused petitioners, in connivance with each other, closed the FDRs prematurely and transferred about Rs.71 lakh to their personal bank accounts and even to the account of a private company run by petitioner No.2 and thus, an FIR under Sections 420, 406 and 120-B IPC against them was lodged.

In connection with this case, they moved High Court seeking anticipatory bail arguing that the amount withdrawn by the petitioners, was used for the construction and repairing work of the building of the Gurudwara as well as the shops of the Gurudwara Committee.

It was also submitted that the shops under the ownership of Gurudwara were rented out to the relatives of the complainant, and they could not pay the rent for a considerable period and they want to grab the property of Gurudwara, therefore, the instant FIR is the outcome of that dispute.

However, they informed the bench that they are ready to deposit the due amount either in this Court or in the trial Court.

Having heard the arguments of the Counsel for the petitioners, the Court issued notice to the state and denied anticipatory bail to the petitioners keeping in view the nature and gravity of the offence.

Case title - Sarjeet Singh @ Surjeet Singh and others vs. State of Haryana [CRM-M-60673-2022]

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (PH) 10

Case Citation:

Click Here To Read/Download Order