ORDER
G.R. Majithia, J.
1. This appeal is
directed against the decision of the Sikh Gurdwaras Tribunal, Punjab, Chandigarh, dated April, 12, 1974, holding that the agricultural land measuring 475 Bighas 19 Biswas situate in village Sanghera, Patti Sujja and the Muafi of Rs. 114/3/- belong to and vest in the institution known as “Dera Baba Dan Dass”, but the building situate in Patti Sujja of village Sanghera, Tehsil Barnala, District Sangrur is the property of the notified Sikh Gurdwara “Gurdwara Sahib Dera Patti Sujja” mentioned at Serial No. 337 of Schedule I of Sikh Gurudwaras Act, 1925.
2. Facts first:–
On the publication of a consolidated list under Section 3(2) of the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 (the Act, for short), late Mahant Mela Ram filed a petition under Section 5 of the Act claiming that the properties mentioned in the consolidated list and the building allegedly belonging to the Gurdwara known as “Gurdwara Sahib Dera Patti Sujja” belong to and possessed by Dera Baba Dan Dass (for short, the Dera). This petition was, in due course, forwarded by the State Government to the Sikh Gurdwaras Tribunal, Punjab Chandigarh (for short, the Tribunal) for adjudication. In the petition under Section 5(1), it was stated that the building allegedly belonging to the Gurdwara Sahib: Dera Patti Sujja did not belong to the said Gurdwara but is a building of the Dera, which is an Udasi Dera of religious and charitable nature of which the appellant late Mahant Mela Ram was the Mahant; that the Dera was founded and established by Mahant Baba Dan Dass, a pious and religious person of Udasi Beikh; that he remained in possession of the Dera throughout his life and after his death the building of the Dera remained in possession of successor Mahants; that Gurdwara Sahib Dera Patti Sujja has no right,
title or interest in it, nor the disputed building is the building of the said Gurudwara; that the site plan appended to the notification is wrong; that no building of this shape, boundaries or construction can be found in the said village; that Guru Granth Sahib is never opened ceremoniously in the building; that Samadhis of the founder Mahant and his successors and Bhandara exist in the building; that photos of Baba Siri Chand and Shri Vishnu Bhagwan are worshipped therein; that the land situate in village Sanghera Patti Sujja mentioned in the title of the petition at item No. 2 is owned and possessed by the Dera; that the land was originally gifted to Baba Dan Dass and other successor Mahants and was later on mutated in favour of the Dera by the donors; that the said Gurdwara has no right, title or interest in the property; that Muafi of Rs. 114/3/0 mentioned at item No. 3 in the title of the petition was granted to Mahant Dan Dass Fakir Udasi who founded the Dera at village Sanghera, Patti Sujja and after his death, the Muafi was sanctioned throughout in the name of the Dera through the successor Mahants.
3. Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak
Committee, Amritsar, (for short, the committee) was added as respondent to the petition under Section 5(1) of the Act. In the written statement filed on behalf of the Committee, it maintained that Gurdwara Sahib Dera Patti Sujja is a Sikh Gurdwara and the petitioner cannot object that this Gurdwara is Dera Baba Dan Dass which is an Udasi bera and is not a Sikh Gurdwara; that the property viz. land and the Muafi belongs to Gurdwara Sahib Dera Patti Sujja; that it may be called Dera Baba Dan Dass by the people because Baba Dan Dass was one of the Mahants but the story of the gift of land to him was wrong; that the lands and the Muafi belong to the institution which is managed by its office-holder (Mahant Mela Ram); that the lands and the Muafi are not petitioner’s private properties but form part of the property of the institution which is entered in the revenue record as property of the Gurdwara on the pleadings of the parties, following issues were framed by the Tribunal on December 6, 1962:–
1. What right, title or interest, if any, has the petitioner in the property in dispute?
2. What right, title or interest, if any, has the notified Sikh Gurdwara concerned in the property in dispute?
4. The Tribunal disposed of these issues together holding that the agricultural land in dispute and the Muafi belong to the Dera but the building situate in Patti Sujja mentioned at Serial No. 337 of Schedule I of the Act is the property of Gurdwara Sahib Dera Patti Sujja.
5. The precise question for determination is whether the building allegedly belonging to Gurdwara Sahib Dera Patti Sujja mentioned at Serial No. 337 of Schedule I of the Act is, in fact, the Dera Baba Dan Dass.
6. Under Section 5(1) of the Act, nobody can claim any interest, right or title to a Gurdwara, yet anyone can claim any area alleged to be a Gurdwara. He may claim that what the Committee or any other religious body declares to be a Sikh Gurdwara form part of the endowment of any institution. See in this connection Mahant Davinder Singh v. Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee, AIR 1929 Lahore 603.
7. The apex Court upheld the validity of Sections 3(4) and 7(5) of the Act in Dharam Das etc. etc. v. State of Punjab, AIR 1975 SC 1069. The validity of these sections was upheld after recording concession of the State Government that the Gurdwara as mentioned in first part of sub-section (1) of Section 3, namely, that specified in Schedule I is a spiritual notion without any physical form. The concession reads thus:–
“During the course of the lengthy arguments, the learned Advocate for the respondents on behalf of the State of Punjab put forward the contention that a Gurdwara as mentioned in first part of sub-section (1) of S. 3 namely, that specified in Sch. I is a spiritual notion without any physical form but that word used in the context of the latter part of that sub-section which specifies a list, signed and verified by any Sikh or any present office-holder of a Gurdwara specified in
Sch. I of all rights, titles and interests in immovable properties situated in Punjab inclusive of the Gurdwaras would imply that the place of worship, namely, the Gurdwara itself, can be the subject of an inquiry as to whether it belongs to the Sikhs or non-Sikhs. Accordingly, he made a statement conceding that it is permissible to make a claim that the property mentioned in the second notification under sub-section (2) of S. 3 including the properties described as Gurdwara itself in respect of item 249 in Schedule I is Udasi and consequently submits that the appellant has not been denied a right of hearing.”
The concession obviously implies that all rights, titles and interests in the immovable properties inclusive of the place of worship can be subject of inquiry as to whether it belongs to Sikhs or non-Sikhs.
8. In the light of the ratio of these judgments, we proceed to determine whether the Dera in dispute is a separate entity than the Gurdwara mentioned at Serial No. 337 of Schedule I of the Act.
9. The petitioner appeared as P.W. 1 and stated that the Dera is situated in Patti Sujja and there is also a separate Gurdwara in Patti Sujja. In cross-examination a suggestion was put to him that the Dera is also known as Gurdwara Sahib Dera Patti Sujja, which was denied. He categorically stated in cross-examination that there is no Gurdwara besides Dera Dan Dass which has about 470 Bighas of land attached to it. P.W. 2 Gurdial Singh, a lambardar and cultivator of village Sanghera stated that the land in dispute stands in the name of the Dera and that the land in dispute has descended from Guru to Chela. The Muafi was also granted in the name of the Dera. In cross-examination, he stated that there is a Gurdwara in Patti Sujja besides this Dera and that there is no Gurdwara in Patti Sujja having about 470 Bighas of land and Muafi attached to it. He gave the boundaries of the Gurdwara and the Dera. The testimony of this witness rings true and it will be useful to reproduce his statement in extensor-
“The land in dispute stands in the name of Dera Baba Dan Dass. The land in dispute has
descended from Guru to Chela. The land revenue of the land in dispute is muafi in the name of Dera Baba Dan Dass.
Cross-examination:
There is a Gurdwara in Patti Sujja besides this Dera. That Gurdwara has been in existence ever since the village was founded. That Gurdwara is called Gurdwara Patti Sujja. There is no Gurdwara in Patti Sujja having about 470 Bighas of land and muafi attached to it. It is wrong to suggest that the Dera has Parkash of Guru Granth Sahib. Gurdwara Patti Sujja has public ‘fair’ ought to have been thorough fare on three sides of it and houses of Maggar and Harnam Singh on the fourth side. There is no Deodi in the Gurdwara Patti Sujja. The entrance has Kachha Platform as we enter the entrance there is a vacant place belonging to the Gurdwara. The entrance has walls on all the four sides and roof above with doors from the public street and another door in the opposite wall leading to the two Court yards. Over this deodi there is a Chubara which used to have the Parkash of Guru Granth Sahib. There are two kothris one on the right hand side and the other on the left hand side as we enter the Court yard of the Gurdwara. There is no Kothri facing one as he enters Gurdwara, but there is a platform adjoining the public street. The Guru Granth Sahib has its Parkash in the Kothri on the left hand side as one enters the Gurdwara. Dera Baba Dan Dass has public streets on its East, West and North and houses of Dayal Dass and another Lala on the South. House of Maghar and Harnam Singh does not adjoin the Dera at all.
C.Q.
I cannot say how many rooms the Dera contains, I have been going to the Dera. The proprietary body of the village consists of Jat Sikhs. About 20 or 30 Hindu families also own lands. In all there must be 600 families in the village. The kamines of the village consists of about 200 families. About 100 families out of this 200 must be of Mazhbi Sikh, and the remaining families are Ramdasia Sikhs. This Dera Baba Dan Dass is being used as a farm house for catties and for storing Bhusa etc.
There is a perenial langar in this Dera. The only day celebrated is 9th of Bhadon (Naumi) connected with the life of Baba Siri Chand. There is a painting of Baba Siri Chand in the Dera. There is a Gola Sahib consisting of ashes in the Dera. This is also worshipped. There is no Samadhi in this Dera. But the Samadhis of the mahants are situated outside the Dera. The Sikhs of the village visit this Dera and listen to the Kathas and Sakies by the Mahants of this Dera.”
Cross-examination of this witness unmistakably points out that the Gurdwara in Patti Sujja is different than the Dera in question.
10. P.W. 3 Mohinder Singh, a cultivator of village Sanghera, also maintains in cross-examination that there is a separate Gurdwara in Patti Sujja and that Dera Baba Dan Dass is not called Patti Sujja Gurdwara. In cross-examination he states that Ex. R-l is the plan of the Gurdwara Patti Sujja.
11. P.W. 4 Jangir Singh, a cultivator of village Sanghera deposed in his examination-in-chief that the Dera which owns the land of about 465 Bighas is called Dera Baba Dan Dass; that the Mahants of this Dera worship Baba Siri Chand and Gola Sahib; that they are Udasis by faith and that there is also Muafi attached to this Dera. In cross-examination, he stated that the Dera is not called Gurdwara Guru Granth Sahib Patti Sujja; that there is separate Gurdwara from this Dera in Patti Sujja. In reply to a Court question, the witness stated that the land mentioned by him in his examination-in-chief is not attached to the Gurdwara in Patti Sujja and that Guru Granth Sahib is not the object of worship in Dera Baba Dan Dass. The statement of this witness in examination-in-chief that the Mahants of the Dera worship Baba Siri Chand and Gola Sahib and that they are Udasis by faith was not assailed in cross-examination. It is well established rule of evidence that a party should put to each of its opponent’s witness so much of his case as concerns that particular witness. If no such questions are put, the Courts presume that the witness account has been accepted.
12. P.W. 5 Bhola Singh, a cultivator of
village Sanghera deposed that the land in dispute belongs to Dera Baba Dan Dass and Mela Ram is the present Mahant of this Dera and he is an Udasi Sadhu. In cross-examination, he stated that there is a separate Gurdwara in Patti Sujja distinct from Dera Baba Dan Dass and that the Mahants of this Dera do not keep Guru Granth Sahib in the Dera.
13. The Committee examined R.W. 1 Gurdev Singh and R.W. 2 Jangir Singh, both cultivators of village Sanghera. R.W. 1 in his examination-in-chief deposed that there is no Gurdwara separate from Dera Baba Dan Dass in Patti Sujja; that the Gurdwara has the Parkash of Guru Granth Sahib in it; that about 5000 bighas of land is attached to the Gurdwara in Patti Sujja and that there is Muafi of land revenue in the name of the Gurdwara. In cross-examination, he stated that he does not know either Udasi Sadhu or Nirmala Sadhu and that there is no other object of worship in the Gurdwara except Guru Granth Sahib; that there is no picture of Baba Siri Chand or Gola Sahib in this Dera (Gurdwara) and there is no Katha of any sort in this Dera (Gurdwara), R.W. 2 also deposed that Dera Baba Dan Dass and the Sikh Gurdwara is one and the same thing and that land measuring about 450 Bighas is attached to this Gurdwara. In cross-examination, he stated that Mahant Mela Ram is a Sikh and that he did not see any Samadhis within the precincts of the Gurdwara.
14. The evidence of R.W. 1 and R.W. 2 indicates that they are liars. The Tribunal inspected the disputed institution and a certified copy of the inspection note dated December 27, 1962 is available on the record of Petition No. 175 of 1963. The same reads thus:–
“We inspected the institution described in the aforesaid petition as Dera Baba Dan Dass today at 1.00 p.m. The petitioner along with Sh. M.R. Mahajan, Advocate, was present on the spot. A large number of villagers had also collected there.
2. The building described by the petitioner as Dera Baba Dan Dass is situate in the abadi
of village Sanghera. From the side of its entrance, it gives appearance of an ordinary house in a village.
3. The entrance to the premises is through a big darwaja which is used for tethering cattle. A number of kacha mangers are built
under the roof of this darwaja.
4. A few pictures of Baba Siri Chand and other holy saints were shown to us lying in one of the rooms of this building. Some religious books and two big boxes were also lying there.
5. Parkash of Guru Granth Sahib was nowhere to be seen in this building.”
The inspection note of the Tribunal obviously suggests that the Dera is situated in the abadi of the village and that there was no Parkash of Guru Granth Sahib in the building of the Dera. The inspection note proves beyond doubt that the witnesses produced by the Committee had scant regard for truth. Dera Baba Dan Dass can by no stretch of imagination be categorised as a Sikh Gurdwara as has been projected. The inspection note of the Tribunal disproves the Committee’s assertion that the Dera is in fact called the Gurdwara Sahib Dera Patti Sujja. The witnesses produced by the Committee perjured themselves in judicial proceedings and their conduct deserves to be deprecated.
15. The documentary evidence produced by the petitioner fully supports the occular version. Exhibits P-l and P-2 are geneological tables and read thus:–
Exhibit P-l
Exhibit P-2
Dan Dass
Inder Dass
Hira Dass
Mela Ram
Mangta Dass
Ratia Ram
Lasjar Ram
Rattan Dass
Hari Dass
Manak Dass
16. Vide Ex. R-14, mutation of inheritance was sanctioned in favour of Mahant Inder Dass on the death of his Guru Manak Dass on 7-2-2000 B.K., under the orders of Sardar Sahib Deorhi Mualla dated Jeth 10, 1919 B.K. Vide Exhibit R-I2, on the death of Mahant Inder Dass, the manager and the mohtmim of the Dera, mutation No. 12293 was sanctioned in favour of his Chela Mela Ram on July 27, 1953. Vide Exhibit R-18, the muafi, which was enjoyed by Manak Dass as Mahant of the Dera, was sanctioned in favour of Inder Dass, Mohtmim of the Dera. Vide order dated August 10, 1948, Exhibit R-19 muafi was sanctioned in the name of Mela Ram the present Mahant of the Dera under the orders of Sardar Sahib Deorhi Mualla and affirmed by His Highness Yadvindra Singh and the following conditions were imposed:–
i) That the manager shall not use the income of the Dera for his personal use;
ii) That the manager shall be responsible for his good conduct, faithful to the Government and serve the Dera with devotion as per the rules and shall keep the accounts of the Dera.
Exhibit R-5 is the order of the Revenue Officer passed after obtaining sanction from the Commissioner, Patiala, sanctioning muafi in the name of Mahant Manak Dass. This order indicates that the land was originally gifted by Baba Ala Singh Sahib Bahadur (donor) to Dana Fakir (donee). This order also indicates that the Commissioner visited the Dera and recommended continuance of muafi after verifying from the Lambardars that the Mohtmim was of good character and the travellers and Sadhus were accommodated in the Dera and given free food. Recommendation was made that till the existence of the Dera, muafi be granted. Exhibit R-d is the statement of Mahant Manak Dass recorded by the Revenue Authorities while granting Muafi. In the statement, he reiterated that approximately 500 Bighas Kham land was given as “punarth’ (charity) by Maharaja Baba Ala Singh. The Dera is situate in approximately one Bigha of land and a well is also installed there; free langar is provided to the travellers and Sadhus and he was only a
Mohtmim. Exhibit R.7 is the order passed by the Revenue Authorities after obtaining sanction from the Commissioner, Patiala. Muafi was maintained regarding some portion of the land and regarding the balance, land revenue was charged. Much capital has been made because it is stated in this order that Guru Granth Sahib is ceremoniously opened there. It is not uncommon that Guru Granth Sahib is recited in Udasi Deras also along with other Udasi mode of worship.
17. From the oral and documentary evidence, the following facts stand proved:-- (a) Ever since the foundation of the disputed institution, all the Mahants have been Udasis and succession has been devolving from Guru to Chela.
(b) The reports of the Officers prepared while granting Muafi suggest that the Muafi was granted since Mahant of the Deras was of good character and the Dera was maintained in good condition and that the travellers and Sadhus during their itinerary got lodging and boarding. The Mohtmim was using the income from the landed property attached to the Dera for the upkeep of the Dera and not diverting any part thereof to its personal use.
(c) The inspection report indicates that the disputed Dera is used for residential purpose. The existence of managers suggests that cattle were being tethered there and there was no Parkash of Guru Granth Sahib in any portion of the Dera Building.
These proved facts in unmistakable terms suggest that the institution is an Udasi Dera and not the Sikh Gurdwara “Gurdwara Sahib Dera Patti Sujja”. The Tribunal was in error in holding that the building of the Dera is, in fact, Gurdwara Sahib Dera Patti Sujja. The conclusion arrived at by the Tribunal is not sustainable and is reversed. There is no dispute that the land in dispute and the Muafi is attached to the Dera and the finding recorded by the Tribunal has not been assailed by any of the contesting parties.
18. For the reasons stated supra, the appeal succeeds and the order of the Tribunal to the extent it has held that the building of
Dera Baba Dan Dass is Gurdwara Sahib Dera Patti Sujja is set and the petition under Section 5(1) of the Act filed by the appellant is allowed and it is held that the building of the Dera and the agricultural land and Muafi attached to the Dera are the properties of Dera Baba Dan Dass. There will be no order as to costs.
19. Appeal allowed