New Delhi, March 17 The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking a national holiday on the birthday of Guru Govind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru, which is celebrated as Prakash Uday.
A bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said it was not inclined to entertain the plea of All India Shiromani Singh Sabha, which also sought directions to issue "specific guidelines for declaring public or gazetted holidays" in the country.
"Dismissed. Detailed order will come," the bench said.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the petitioner organization, submitted that there is currently no policy, and there should be some certainty on how a public holiday is to be decided.
The petition sought appropriate directions to the Centre to "declare the Tenth Sikh Guru, 'Guru Govind Singh Jee' Prakash Parv as a Gazetted/Public Holiday to be observed throughout India, including but not limited to the States/Union Territories of India where the Sikhs have a significant population, as well as in the States connected to the life and activities of the Tenth Sikh Guru - Guru Govind Singh Jee."
The plea stated that, "In the absence of any guiding principles from any authority regarding the declaration of gazetted holidays in India, the executives, at the behest of political groups in government, declare holidays at their whim and fancy, serving the political purpose of appeasing a particular section of the public."