The Supreme Court adjourned the hearing on a plea filed by All India Shiromani Singh Sabha, seeking a uniform and non-arbitrary implementation of policy for declaring public holidays as against the whims and fancies of various political groups.
The bench comprising Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, Justice L. Nageswara Rao and Justice Vineet Saran said this is a question which every institution has to ask itself regarding declaring Guru Gobind Singh’s birth anniversary as a public holiday.
The bench adjourned the matter as Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said he will seek instructions. The Court had earlier issued notice on the plea and sought a response from Central and state governments in the matter.
The petitioner submitted that it was aggrieved at the fact that the important patriotic and historical figure like 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singhji’s birth anniversary has yet not been declared a public holiday across the country, though Sikhism is the fifth largest religion in the world with 25.8 million believers.
The plea stated that in India, there is no Public Holidays Act, except the Weekly Holidays Act, 1942, which provided for weekly holidays. In most cases, holidays were declared by the executive at the behest of political groups to appease a particular section of the society. However, in countries like New Zealand, the UK and the USA, the holidays were governed by the legislation.
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The petitioner organization has also sought a direction for issuing guidelines for declaring public and gazetted holidays all over the country but not restricted to states and Union Territories where Sikhs are in significant number.