Chandigarh, May 13 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court has dismissed a petition filed by the Miri Piri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Charitable Trust, Shahbad, challenging the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee's (HSGMC) authority to constitute the institute's medical board. The petition had challenged a September 4, 2024, communication issued by the HSGMC regarding the constitution of the board. The Trust sought directions restraining the HSGMC from interfering in its affairs, contending that it was an independent charitable trust constituted by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). The Trust argued that its assets did not fall within the definition of "gurdwara property" and, therefore, the HSGMC had no jurisdiction over its functioning. Opposing the plea, the HSGMC submitted that after the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Act, 2014, came into force on July 18, 2014, it became entitled to take over the assets and activities of institutions and Trusts earlier managed by the SGPC in Haryana. It further argued that the Trust was effectively controlled by the SGPC and had no separate identity. The HC bench of justice Jagmohan Bansal observed that the Trust had been created by the SGPC to comply with statutory provisions and a Supreme Court judgment governing the establishment of a medical college and hospital. The court noted that all trustees were appointed by the SGPC, the land had been provided by it through lease or grant and the Trust's head office functioned from the SGPC office in Amritsar. It also observed that the SGPC president served as the ex officio chairman of the Trust. The bench further noted that under the trust deed, all properties of the Trust would revert to Sri Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar, if the Trust ceased to function. "All these factors collectively establish that the property of the petitioner is actually property of the SGPC," the court observed while dismissing the plea. The 500-bed medical college and hospital at Shahbad was established by the Trust and has been operational since March 2006....