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U.S. Sikhs win battle to build gurdwara

Houston: In a major victory for Sikhs in the United States, a San Francisco court has held that the community has the right to build a gurdwara in its neighbourhood.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed a Sikh congregation to construct a place of worship on land allotted for agriculture in the Sutter County.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a non-profit law firm, filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the community.

"This resounding victory for the Sikh group has nationwide implications for a wide range of cases dealing with religious land interests and it will echo especially loudly in California," said firm spokesman Jared N. Leland.

Neighbours had complained over the congregation's first bid to locate a gurdwara in a residential part of California's Yuba City, so it acquired land in a rural, agriculturally zoned area in 2002.

The Sutter County, however, denied permission, saying the construction would amount to disorderly or "leapfrog development" because the site was away from the city.

The brief filed by the Becket Fund said the refusal by the county's Board of Commissioners to give the Sikhs a building permit violated the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalised Persons Act of 2000.

On Tuesday, the court accepted the argument that the refusal "burdened" free exercise of religion. — PTI

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U.S. Sikhs win battle to build gurdwara

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