Calcutta HC sets aside excommunication of a member of Agrahari Sikh Community

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court recently set aside a notice whereby a member of the Agrahari Sikh Community was excommunicated from the entire community by the office bearers of a Gurudwara over matrimonial dispute between his son and daughter-in-law.

Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya on Monday restrained the respondents from excommunicating the petitioners on the same ground and further directed three of the respondents to individually pay Rs 50,000 each to the petitioner totalling Rs 1,50,000 for the “severe harassment and trauma” suffered by the petitioner.

The petitioner is a member of Agrahari Sikh Community and also of Gurudwara Chhota Sikh Sangat. The counsel for the petitioner submitted that by the impugned decision taken by the office bearers of the mentioned Gurudwara on September 19 last year. It was argued that the trigger for such a step was the matrimonial dispute between the member’s son and his wife.

Meanwhile, the counsel appearing for the respondents submitted that the daughter-in-law of the petitioner is a “helpless lady having none but her brother to look after her.” They further submitted that the woman’s brother had complained, upon which the Gurudwara took the steps against the father-in-law, stating that he did nothing to resolve the issue.

“Excommunication from an entire community, not pertaining to religious persecution alone but also the social life and relations of the petitioner is such a stringent action, which touches the normal life of a person and the right to live with dignity. The decision to excommunicate the petitioner from all facets of social life amounts to ostracization and squarely violates the petitioner’s fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution,” Justice Bhattacharyya observed, while further adding that under no stretch of imagination can the father-in-law be held responsible for such a dispute between his son and his daughter-in-law.

“Even if there is such a dispute, the same cannot castigate either of the parties to the said dispute, more so at the behest of a Gurudwara, which governs the religious life of the father of one of the parties, to such dispute,” Bhattacharyya observed. It was further observed that the reasons cited for excommunication had nothing to do with religion.