Chandigarh, A bill proposing stricter punishment, including life imprisonment, for any act of sacrilege against the Guru Granth Sahib was tabled in the Punjab Assembly on Monday.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann presented the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Bill, 2026, during a special session of the assembly here.
Mann on Sunday said the legislation would act as a strong deterrent against acts of sacrilege.
The Punjab Cabinet on Saturday approved stringent amendments to the sacrilege law to make punishments more severe.
The Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Bill, 2026, proposes stricter punishments from a minimum of 10 years of imprisonment to life imprisonment to deter incidents of ‘beadbi’ and uphold the sanctity of the Guru Granth Sahib. It also proposes fines from ₹5 lakh to ₹25 lakh.
Participating in the debate on the Bill, A MLA Inderbir Singh Nijjar said it has been a demand that there should be stricter punishment for any act of sacrilege against the Guru Granth Sahib.
Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa supported the Bill. He, however, demanded that a select committee report on the Punjab Prevention of Offences against Holy Scriptures Bill, 2025, be tabled in the House.
Bajwa asked the government whether it consulted constitutional experts before bringing the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Sarkar Bill, 2026.
He also sought to know from the state government about the delivery of justice in the 2015 sacrilege incidents and police firing at anti-sacrilege protesters in Faridkot.
Former Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh and A Rajya Sabha MP Balbir Singh Seechewal were also present in the House.
According to the statement of objects and reasons of the Bill, in the recent past, there have been attempts to disturb peace and communal harmony in the state by committing sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib.
“The government is determined not to allow such incidents and ensure deterrent action against all those who commit such sacrilege. Proposed ‘The Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Bill, 2026’ aims to achieve this objective by providing punishment of life imprisonment for such acts of sacrilege,” it said.
Earlier, the government had said that the existing provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita do not provide sufficiently stringent punishment for acts of sacrilege.
While sections 298, 299, and 300 of the BNS do address such matters, they do not prescribe sufficiently stringent punishments to serve as a strong deterrent against such acts, it had said.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
