The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed trial court proceedings in an alleged forgery and cheating case against Shiromani Akali Dal leaders Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Singh Badal and others, PTI reported.

The case was filed in 2009 by a Hoshiarpur resident Balwant Singh Khera. He had accused the Shiromani Akali Dal of submitting two different constitutions to the Election Commission of India and the Gurdwara Election Commission while seeking recognition as a political party.

Khera had claimed that the party had given a declaration to the Election Commission to abide by the principles of secularism in its constitution, but was also contesting elections for a Sikh religious body – the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee – and was thereby acting like a religious party, according to PTI.

Besides Parkash Singh and Sukhbir Singh Badal, Khera had also party general secretary Daljit Singh Cheema in his complaint.

On October 4, when the case was at a crucial stage, the Shiromani Akali Dal had challenged the jurisdiction of a Hoshiarpur court, which was hearing Khera’s plea, The Indian Express reported. However, their challenge was dismissed by the court.

Following this, the Shiromani Akali Dal had moved the Supreme Court.

During the hearing on Tuesday, the lawyer representing the Shiromani Akali Dal argued before a bench of Justices S Abdul Nazeer and V Ramasubramanian that Khera’s complaint had no basis.

“Being religious does not run contrary to the principles of secularism and merely because a political outfit is contesting elections to a Gurdwara committee does not mean it is not secular,” the party told the court, according to The Indian Express.