Punjab is once again preparing to enter sensitive legal terrain — this time with greater resolve, sharper legal tools, and a message of zero tolerance. The Bhagwant Mann-led AAP Government is set to introduce a new anti-sacrilege Bill during a special two-day Assembly session on July 10 and 11, proposing life imprisonment or even the death penalty for those found guilty of desecrating any religious scripture. This will mark the third time that a Punjab Government, under different political parties, has tried to legislate stringent punishment for sacrilege — an issue that continues to ignite public sentiment and political friction in the state, since 2015.
The proposed law, which is being pitched as historic, intends to plug legal gaps in existing frameworks and move beyond previous legislative attempts that remain stuck in bureaucratic limbo. According to the government, earlier Bills — passed in 2016 and 2018 — could not secure Presidential assent due to constitutional and procedural objections raised by the Centre. This time, however, the Government is aligning the new Bill with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the recently enacted criminal code that has replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC), thus rendering the old amendments redundant.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who met with representatives of the Sarv Dharam Beadbi Roko Morcha the previous week, declared that this time, the law would leave no room for ambiguity or escape. “There are loopholes in the existing legal system. People who commit sacrilege often walk away with minor penalties. We are bringing a law that ensures the severest punishment — including the death penalty — if someone intentionally insults our sacred scriptures,” Mann said.
What’s New in the Proposed Law?
As per information available, the upcoming Bill is designed to reflect the legal vocabulary and architecture of the BNS rather than the obsolete IPC. According to senior officials involved in the drafting, the Bill will propose either life imprisonment or capital punishment for intentional acts of sacrilege against Guru Granth Sahib, Bhagavad Gita, Quran, and Bible. This represents a significant escalation in punitive provisions when compared with the central BNS law, which — under Sections 298 and 299 — provides for a maximum of three years for insulting religious beliefs or desecrating a place of worship.
The Mann Government is also consulting constitutional experts on whether the death penalty can legally be imposed for sacrilege, particularly in light of concerns raised earlier by the Union Government about proportionality, misuse, and secular principles.
A senior official involved in the drafting remarked, “With the BNS now in place, our previous Bills have lost legal relevance. We are building this new Bill with careful alignment to the new criminal laws, hoping it passes both legal scrutiny and political muster.”
Why Previous Attempts Failed
This is not the first time Punjab has tried to legislate tough laws against sacrilege. In fact, it’s the third successive government to do so.
In March 2016, the SAD-BJP coalition government introduced amendments to the IPC and CrPC, proposing life imprisonment for desecration — but only for incidents involving the Guru Granth Sahib. The Centre rejected the Bill, citing violation of the secular ethos of the Constitution and the need to treat all religions equally.
In 2018, the Congress-led Government under Capt Amarinder Singh tried to address that concern by expanding the scope to include four major religious texts and proposed Section 295AA under the IPC. It too sought life imprisonment for desecration with intent to hurt religious sentiments. Despite being passed unanimously in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and receiving gubernatorial assent, these Bills still await Presidential approval after nearly seven years.
AAP MP Malvinder Singh Kang even raised the matter in the Parliament in November 2024, urging the Centre to act, stating that delay in clearing the Bills hurt the religious sentiments of millions in Punjab. However, with the shift to the BNS from July 1, 2024, those older Bills are now legally outdated.
Why Is This Law Politically Crucial?
The issue of sacrilege has repeatedly stirred mass outrage and changed political narratives in Punjab. The infamous 2015 Bargari sacrilege case, where torn pages of Guru Granth Sahib were found in Faridkot, followed by a series of similar incidents, led to a political upheaval and was a decisive factor in the fall of the SAD-BJP regime in 2017. Ever since, Akali Dal is yet to come out of its shadow.
The recurring nature of sacrilege incidents and the perceived leniency in law enforcement have created a deep sense of injustice among the people. For Mann’s Government, this Bill offered a chance to reclaim public trust and underscore its seriousness on issues of faith and community harmony.
The urgency is also driven by developments on the ground. Gurjeet Singh Khalsa, a protester demanding capital punishment for sacrilege, has been sitting atop a BSNL tower in Samana since October 2024. His deteriorating health has become a matter of concern, and any tragedy could inflame public sentiment and law-and-order tensions.
Moreover, a key political impetus behind the Bill is the AAP Government’s attempt at damage control following its public fallout with its MLA Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, the ex-IPS officer who led the SIT probing post-sacrilege police firing cases. Kunwar Vijay joined AAP in 2021 amid grand promises by Arvind Kejriwal to mete out swift justice in sacrilege incidents and dismantle the drug mafia.
However, he grew increasingly critical of the Mann-led Government’s lethargic action on sacrilege and police accountability, openly questioning its sincerity. His public dissent culminated in a five-year suspension for “anti-party activities”, widely perceived as a punitive move to silence a vocal dissenter.
By proposing this new, stringent anti-sacrilege law — including even capital punishment — the AAP is not only seeking to reclaim moral high ground but also to reassure voters that its initial campaign vows, including those made at Kunwar Vijay’s induction, remain intact.
A State’s Right to Legislate?
The Mann Government has defended its right to legislate on the matter by pointing out that “law and order” is a state subject under the Constitution’s concurrent list. That, they argued, gives the State Government sufficient authority to enact such a law — especially in a state as religiously sensitive as Punjab.
The draft Bill is expected to be finalized soon after the Cabinet approval and will be formally introduced during the July 10-11 session. Whether this will finally be the anti-sacrilege law that survives judicial scrutiny, earns Presidential nod, and becomes enforceable remains to be seen.
PUNJAB’S ANTI-SACRILEGE BILL: TIMELINE
· SAD-BJP Govt (in 2016): Proposed IPC Section 295AA (to be added) with life imprisonment for sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib, but the Bill was returned by the Centre for excluding other religions, flagging it as unconstitutional
· Congress Govt (in 2018): Passed 2 Bills — Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018; and Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018 — proposing life imprisonment for desecration of Guru Granth Sahib, Quran, Bible, and Gita under IPC Section 295AA, but they remain pending Presidential assent
· AAP Govt is now planning to table a new Bill under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) with provision for life imprisonment or death penalty for sacrilege of any religious scripture
* The new Bill aligns with BNS after IPC repeal, rendering earlier IPC-based Bills legally obsolete