Life term, ₹10 lakh fine, no parole: AAP govt's across-faith anti-sacrilege Bill in Punjab explained

Mint

6 days ago

The Aam Aadmi Party government on July 14 introduced in the Punjab Assembly an anti-sacrilege bill, proposing punishment up to life imprisonment for sacrilegious acts against religious scriptures.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann tabled the 'Punjab Prevention of Offences Against Holy Scripture(s) Bill 2025' in the House for discussion.
The Speaker deferred the discussion on the bill for Tuesday after Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said the party leaders need time to prepare to effectively express their viewpoints on the proposed law.
Before the start of the third day of the special session of the state Assembly, the Punjab Prevention of Offences Against Holy Scripture(s) Bill, 2025, was cleared by the cabinet in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mann.
The proposed law mandates strict punishment, extending up to life imprisonment, for the desecration of holy scriptures, including the Guru Granth Sahib, Bhagavad Gita, Bible and Quran, an official spokesperson told news agency PTI after the cabinet meeting.
The bill proposes that any person found guilty of sacrilege may face imprisonment ranging from 10 years to life. The guilty shall also be liable to pay a fine of ₹ 5 lakh, which may extend up to ₹ 10 lakh.
Those attempting to commit the offence may be sentenced to three to five years and shall also be liable to pay a fine which may extend up to ₹ 3 lakh, as per the Bill.
The bill proposes that if such an offence leads to communal riots, causes loss of human life, or damages public or private property, the punishment may range from 20 years to life imprisonment, with a fine of ₹ 10-20 lakh. There is no provision for parole or furlough for those who receive the maximum sentence or fail to pay the fine.
Individuals found abetting the crime will be punished in accordance with the offence committed. The proposed law also covers religious figures such as granthis, pathi singhs, sevadars, ragis, dadhis, prabandhaks, pandits, purohits, maulvis and pastors appointed to perform religious duties related to their holy scriptures.
The bill proposes that if someone is found guilty of sacrilege, they will be punished under the highest category of the offence.
Under the Bill, offence means any sacrilege, damage, destruction, defacing, disfiguring, de-colouring, de-filling, decomposing, burning, breaking or tearing of any holy scripture or part thereof.
The offences punishable under this Act shall be cognisable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable and will be tried by a session court.
The investigation of the offence under this Act shall be conducted by a police officer not below the rank of deputy superintendent of police, as per the Bill.
Once passed, this legislation will be implemented in the entire state of Punjab. The provisions of this Act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of the provisions of any other law for the time being in force, it said.
It is not the first time a bill has been introduced to impose stricter punishments on perpetrators of sacrilegious acts.
In 2016, the then SAD-BJP government introduced the IPC (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016, and CrPC (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016, recommending a life sentence for sacrilegious acts against the Guru Granth Sahib.
The Centre later returned the bill, saying that, given the Constitution's secular nature, all religions should be treated equally.
In 2018, Captain Amarinder Singh's Congress government passed two bills - the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018', and 'the Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill 2018', which stipulated a punishment of up to life imprisonment for injury, damage or sacrilege to Guru Granth Sahib, Bhagavad Gita, Quran and the Bible.
However, the two Bills did not get the President's assent and were returned.
Following the discussion on Tuesday in the House, the Bill is expected to be sent to a select committee for taking the opinion of stakeholders.
Mann had earlier said that the state government would seek the opinion of all stakeholders and religious bodies for the proposed legislation, indicating that it would not be enacted immediately.
The bill deals with an emotive issue in Punjab, as there has been a demand from various quarters for stringent punishment for acts of sacrilege against religious texts after the incidents of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib in 2015 in Faridkot.
A government spokesperson told the news agency PTI that with the enactment of the law, the State seeks to further strengthen the ethos of communal harmony, brotherhood, peace, and amity.
The spokesperson said it would also act as a strong deterrent against antisocial and antinational activities by ensuring severe punishment for perpetrators of this heinous crime.
There have been numerous incidents in the past involving the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib and other revered granths, deeply wounding public sentiments and causing unrest in society, the spokesperson said.
Over 100 incidents of sacrilege have been reported in the past five years alone, according to the state Intelligence Department. In 2016, desecration of the Quran was reported in Malerkotla and later in Sangrur; torn pages of Guru Granth Sahib were found in a park in Amritsar in 2018, leading to protests; and a gurdwara was vandalised in Tarn Taran and Guru Granth Sahib was desecrated in 2018.
While sections 298, 299 and 300 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, address such issues, they do not prescribe sufficiently stringent penalties to serve as an effective deterrent.
However, until now, no specific legislation existed that directly addressed offences against 'holy granths', often resulting in leniency or evasion of serious action by culprits, said the spokesperson.
The enactment of the law seeks to further strengthen the ethos of communal harmony, brotherhood, peace, and amity.