Punjab Assembly tables draft Anti-Sacrilege Bill which mandates strict penalties, including life imprisonment
After the Bill was tabled, Leader of Opposition Partap Bajwa sought that the debate on the draft Bill should take place on Tuesday as they need time for the same. The Speaker then announced that the Bill will be debated on Tuesday.
The Bill covers sacrilege against sacred books including the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Bhagavad Gita, Holy Bible, and Quran Sharif, among others. Under the proposed law, any person found guilty of sacrilege may face imprisonment ranging from 10 years to life. Those attempting the offence may be sentenced to three to five years, while individuals found abetting the crime will be punished in accordance with the offence committed.
'With the enactment of this law, the State seeks to further strengthen the ethos of communal harmony, brotherhood, peace, and amity. It will also act as a strong deterrent against anti-social and anti-national activities by ensuring severe punishment for perpetrators of this heinous crime,' a government statement said.
It added that no specific legislation existed that directly addressed offences against holy granths, often resulting in leniency or evasion of serious action by the culprits. This new Act aims to fill that legal void by criminalising and prescribing punishments for acts of sacrilege across all sects and faiths.
The government had summoned a special session of Vidhan Sabha to table the Bill following protests by Gurjeet Singh Khalsa, a Patiala native who has been protesting atop a telecom tower seeking stricter legislation over sacrilege involving holy books.
The Cabinet note stated that there have been numerous incidents in the past involving the sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and other revered books, deeply wounding public sentiment and causing unrest in society. While sections 298, 299, and 300 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) address such issues, they do not prescribe sufficiently stringent penalties to serve as an effective deterrent.
Considering the gravity of such offences and the imperative to preserve communal harmony and religious sanctity, the Cabinet found it necessary to introduce state-specific legislation, it said.
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