Gurmat-Based Sikh Governance: SGPC Trusteeship and Takht Independence

This paper delivers a constitutional model for preventing repeated SGPC-related crises from escalating into Panthic legitimacy wars. It does so by (1) installing a strict trusteeship–sovereignty firewall (SGPC becomes trusteeship-only: property, finance, staff, services; no sovereignty actions by committee power), (2) constitutionally protecting Takht independence so Panthic sovereignty cannot be created, removed, or coerced by payroll, statutory leverage, or party machinery, and (3) creating an auditable integrity layer (the Panthic Process Office, PPO) for records, scope disclosures, evidence escrow, audit rosters, and appeals/review tracking. The paper also sets out what a Gurmat-consistent amendment or replacement of the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 must contain: an explicit sovereignty firewall and state non-domination safeguards, pursued only through lawful, non-violent, negotiated pathways. Implementation mechanics (delegate formulas, IT systems, legal sequencing) are intentionally deferred; the aim here is to lock in structural boundaries and minimum legitimacy standards that are portable across a global Panth.