Chandigarh: The Punjab Cabinet on Saturday approved the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Bill, 2026, proposing stricter punishment ranging from minimum of 10 years to life imprisonment for acts of sacrilege.
The Bill is set to be tabled in a special assembly session here on Monday.
Fines and presidential assent
Briefing newspersons here, finance minister Harpal Cheema said that the proposed amendments also include a fine between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 25 lakh for those found guilty of desecration. Clarifying that since it is a state law, he said that it would come into effect immediately as it would not require Presidential assent.
Cheema said that while Sections 298, 299 and 300 of BNS address related offences, they do not provide sufficiently strong deterrents, hence the need for stricter legal measures to protect religious sanctity.
Punishment for masterminds
He held that while the masterminds behind the acts of sacrilege never got caught – as they often used mentally challenged people to commit the said crimes, the amended law also seeks to punish the masterminds.
Cheema referred to several incidents in the past involving the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib and other holy scriptures and alleged that most of those incidents were reported during the rule of Akali-BJP government between 2012-2017 which hardly acted to prevent such incidents or arrest those involved in these crimes.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet also approved a plan to install solar-powered street lights in 11,500 villages of the state. While the state government will bear 70% of the cost (Rs 380 crore), the remaining cost (Rs 170 crore) will be borne by the local gram panchayats.
