An Auckland Sikh Sabha acted unconstitutionally in removing a member through the backdoor by the simple method of refusing to accept renewal of annual membership.
The Auckland Sikh community has been riven by doctrinal differences resulting, in the extreme, with the attempted murder of one controversial figure: Harnek Singh.
The High Court was told Daljit Singh Nagra was one of a number of Sikh adherents disturbed by Harnek Singh’s public profile and his ‘liberal’ interpretation of Sikhism. There is no suggestion he was any way involved in the December 2020 attempt on Mr Singh’s life.
Daljit Singh Nagra was deeply involved in his Sabha’s 2007 purchase of a Papatoetoe site for a new place of worship: a Gurudwara. He provided a short term bridging loan of some $50,000.
By 2010, some adherents had resigned from the Sabha, objecting to the growing influence of Mr Singh.
Daljit Singh Nagra did not resign, but his subsequent attendances at the Gurudwara became less frequent. He told the High Court no annual subscription notice was received for the 2014 year. This followed an employment dispute between his sister and the Sabha, a dispute decided in his sister’s favour. A cheque he handed over in payment of annual membership was returned.
Subsequently, the Sabha issued and enforced a trespass notice barring his attendance at the Gurudwara.
In 2024, he was in court arguing the Sabha acted ultra vires, failing to comply with its own constitution when it removed him from membership. The court was told this hearing was the first step in a proposed challenge to what Daljit Singh Nagra considered Mr Singh’s unlawful control of the Sabha.
Justice Wilkinson-Smith ruled the Sabha had acted ultra vires. Daljit Singh Nagra satisfied the criteria for continued membership. The Sabha’s constitution did not provide for expulsion by the simple expedient of refusing to accept an annual subscription.
She refused to order that the Sabha accept his return to membership. It had been ten years since his supposed expulsion. The organisation has since moved on, Justice Wilkinson-Smith said. The significant differences in ideology between Daljit Singh Nagra and current membership meant that there could be no workable relationship, she said.
Nagra v. Sri Guru Singh Sabha Auckland Inc – High Court (19.04.24)
24.097