ISSUE:
Whether “the Guru Granth Sahib” could be treated as a juristic person capable of holding a property?
RULE:
Where there is any endowment for a charitable purpose it can create institutions like a church, hospital, gurdwara etc. The entrustment of an endowed fund for a purpose can only be used by the person so entrusted for that purpose inasmuch as he receives it for that purpose alone in trust. When the donor endows for an idol or for a mosque or for any institution, it necessitates the creation of a juristic person. The endowment gains the status of a juristic person when it is recognised by the society as such.
Under the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925 this Court held that the central body of worship in a gurdwara is Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book, which is a juristic entity.
The Gurudwara and the Guru Granth Sahib are not two separate juristic persons, they are one integrated whole.