Punjab cabinet approves proposal to make sacrilege punishable with life imprisonment

Chandigarh, Aug 21: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said that the state cabinet has approved a proposal to make sacrilege of religious texts an offence which would be punishable with life imprisonment. The Chief Minister said that the bill would be placed before the state assembly for approval.

"Our Cabinet has given its nod to several important Bills for enactment in the ensuing Vidhan Sabha session, including SC employees reservation in promotions & constitution of Punjab State Higher Education Council," he said in a tweet.

The government has taken a major step towards curbing such incidents and maintaining communal harmony in the state, an official spokesperson said, as per a PTI report.

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, he said.

"The Cabinet has approved insertion of section 295AA to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to provide that - whoever causes injury, damage or sacrilege to Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Srimad Bhagwad Gita, Holy Quran and Holy Bible with the intention to hurt the religious feelings of the people, shall be punished with imprisonment for life," the spokesperson said.

The Cabinet has approved the withdrawal of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016 and the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016, passed in the 12th Session of 14th Vidhan Sabha, 2016, he said.

It has given its nod to the introduction of 'The Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018 and the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018, in the ensuing session of Punjab Vidhan Sabha, the spokesperson said. The Cabinet also approved a series of other bills to be tabled before the Assembly in the forthcoming session, he added.

Significantly, the Punjab Assembly in 2016, when the previous SAD-BJP government was in power, had passed the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016 and Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016. The amendments at that time were brought to seek life imprisonment for desecration f the Guru Granth Sahib.

However, later, the Centre reportedly raised objection to the amendment, asking the state that the punishment of life imprisonment could not be limited to the desecration of holy book of just one religion instead it should be for all religions. Punjab witnessed some incidents of sacrilege in recent years which also became an election issue in the Assembly polls last year.

OneIndia News with PTI inputs