Sikh practices
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[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com//Article.aspx?eid=31973&articlexml=Amritdhari-Sikhs-can-appear-in-court-with-kirpan-17032016001067 ''The Times of India''], Mar 17 2016 | [http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com//Article.aspx?eid=31973&articlexml=Amritdhari-Sikhs-can-appear-in-court-with-kirpan-17032016001067 ''The Times of India''], Mar 17 2016 | ||
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In his plea before the HC, the petitioner had argued that orders of Ambala court disallowing him from appearing in a courtroom with a “kirpan“ were illegal and ultra vires to Article 25 of the Constitution and infringed his religion freedom as per the statute. | In his plea before the HC, the petitioner had argued that orders of Ambala court disallowing him from appearing in a courtroom with a “kirpan“ were illegal and ultra vires to Article 25 of the Constitution and infringed his religion freedom as per the statute. | ||
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Revision as of 23:52, 21 August 2022
Kirpans: Legal issues
Kirpans within court premises
The Times of India, Mar 17 2016
Ajay Sura
Amritdhari Sikhs can appear in court with `kirpan': HC
Upholding the religious freedom of Sikhs to sport a “kirpan“ (ceremonial dagger), the Punjab and Haryana high court held that an Amritdhari (baptized) Sikh cannot be asked to remove this article of faith for a court appearance. The high court passed these orders while quashing an order of Haryana's Ambala sessions court that had on April 18, 2015, declined to record the statement of Dilawar Singh, an Amritdhari Sikh who was a key witness in a murder case in Ambala, on his refusal to remove his “kir pan“.
“The petitioner, being an Amritdhari Sikh, is enjoined by his religion to sport the five articles of faith, one of which is the kirpan.The Constitution explicitly and in the plainest terms secures to the petitioner the right to wear and carry kirpan as being included in the profession of his religion,“ the court said. In the absence of any law or valid regulation prohibiting a “kirpan“ in a court room, the petitioner could not be restrained from wearing and carrying one in the courtroom,“ observed Justice Harinder Singh Sidhu.
Justice Sidhu made it clear that in case there was any apprehension in the mind of the presiding judge about the petitioner behaving violently and causing harm to any person, a measure like stationing security personnel around or close to him could have been resorted to.
In his 34-page judgment, Justice Sidhu also referred constituent assembly discussions that had taken place at the time of its drafting in 1947, where at the at the instance of Sardar Harnam Singh, the right to wear and carry “kirpans“ was recognized as part of the practice of the Sikh religion.
Dilawar had gone to record his statement in a 2014 murder case before the court of Ambala district and sessions judge Deepak Gupta, but the latter objected to his “kirpan“ and directed him to remove it.
In his plea before the HC, the petitioner had argued that orders of Ambala court disallowing him from appearing in a courtroom with a “kirpan“ were illegal and ultra vires to Article 25 of the Constitution and infringed his religion freedom as per the statute.
