SC asks Sikh bodies to unite in efforts to ban jokes on them

“You should be united in the effort rather than divided,” a Bench, comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice DY Chandrachud, observed at the end of hearing on a batch of petitions, seeking ban on circulation of jokes on Sikhs.

The remarks came as various Sikh bodies said they had formed their committee and were in the process of coming up with the final suggestions and guidelines on the issue.

The Bench has listed the matter after six weeks and suggested that all stakeholders should come forward to form one committee to go into the issue. “Why different committees are formed,” it asked during the hearing, in which Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Amritsar, Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC), Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee from Haryana and Gurudwara Management Committee from Patna Sahib in Bihar, competed with each other in making submissions.

Senior advocate RS Suri, appearing for the DSGMC, said a committee, comprising former Apex Court judges –Justices HS Bedi, MY Eqbal and former diplomat Pavan Verma and former bureaucrat MP Bezbaruah, an expert on northeast – was working and all of them would meet shortly to come up with the guidelines.

The court, which agreed with his plea, seeking a month’s time, said: “Suri himself is a Sikh and is working very hard.”  The senior advocate said there was a need for simple guidelines that can be executed and “one final meeting is required”. 

The first PIL on the issue was filed by a woman lawyer, Harvinder Chowdhary, who on Tuesday got emotional and spoke about the menace of jokes on the community by referring to a boy’s suicide. She said the boy ended his file as he was upset by one of the many jokes that lampoon the community. She said she was travelling across the country for a feedback on the issue.

Chowdhary said she herself was a victim of being a Sikh. She added that was treated in a discriminatory manner and had suffered humiliation. She contended that such jokes were a violation of Sikhs’ right to equality and an attack on the dignity of the community. 

During previous hearings, the Apex Court had said it might pass some orders if the circulation of such jokes was being commercially exploited. “Tell us which are the areas where we can do something. We will certainly look into it if the entire community is feeling harassed,” the Bench had said.

The SGPC had said, “A stereotype has been created and Sikhs are being discriminated against in the society because of a particular language and religion.”  Earlier, the Apex Court had observed that there was a need to sensitise the society from the formative stages.

The Supreme Court, which had asked for suggestions from the committee, had said it can stop jokes when they are circulated for a commercial purpose and it would examine the framing of guidelines to stop circulation of racist or communal jokes in the cyber world.

The DSGMC has sought a direction to the Telecom Ministry to filter websites, which targeted Sikh community, on the ground that it was violative of Sections 153A and 153B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

It had said the community was against making and circulating jokes about Sikhs, Biharis and calling people from North-East states by a particular term.

The Apex Court had on January 4 had said that it would seriously consider examining plea to ban websites displaying such jokes.

During the hearing on October 30 last year, the Bench had said, “This (Sikh) community is known for a great sense of humour and they also enjoy such jokes. You must have gone through the jokes of Khushwant Singh...This is only an amusement. Why do you want it to be stopped?” 

The PIL had said there were over 5,000 websites, which displayed jokes on sardars projecting them in poor light.