Punjab’s sacrilege Bills pending with Centre: The provisions, debate

What are the sacrilege Bills?

The Punjab Assembly had unanimously passed The Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018 and The Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill 2018, which stipulate punishment upto life imprisonment for injury, damage or sacrilege to Guru Granth Sahib, Bhagwat Gita, Holy Quran and Holy Bible with the intention to hurt the religious feelings of the people.

The Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018, seeks to amend the IPC by inserting Section 295AA. Under the existing Section 295 A [Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs], a convict can be awarded a maximum of three years’ imprisonment with or without fine.

Why these Bills?

In October 2015, during the former SAD- BJP government’s regime, the sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib took place in Bargari. The incident changed the political narrative in the state, putting the government on the defensive. It was felt that the quantum of punishment for sacrilege of holy books was inadequate under the existing laws.

In March, 2016, the then government brought The Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016, and The Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016, recommending life sentence for desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib. The Centre, however, returned the Bill, saying all religions needed to be treated equally as per the secular nature of the Constitution.

Saying that the Guru Granth Sahib could not be singled out, the Centre asked the Punjab government to either withdraw the Bill or include all religions in the proposed amendment.

Later, in August 2018, Captain Amarinder Singh’s government passed two Bills including holy scriptures of all faiths.

Why are the Bills still pending?

There has been a debate that strict sacrilege laws can send wrong signals, emboldening hardliners and politicians to misuse the provisions and harass critics and opponents. The Centre has asked the state to reconsider these Bills.