CHANDIGARH: After three hours of intense debate of allegations and counter allegations, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday unanimously decided to refer the highly emotive Punjab Prevention of Offences Against Holy Scriptures Bill of 2025 to a select committee for consultation with all stakeholders.
On the suggestion of both the treasury and the opposition benches, Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan said the select committee would gather public opinion on the Bill and return with recommendations within six months.
Earlier, the Chief Minister proposed a four-month timeline. The Bill proposes stringent penalties for sacrilege-related offences, prescribing a minimum sentence of 10 years, extendable to life imprisonment, along with fines ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.
The holy scriptures referred to in the Bill are Guru Granth Sahib or extracts thereof, the Bhagavad Gita, the Quran and the Bible.
This is the third attempt by the Assembly to enact a Bill on sacrilege issues.
In 2016 and 2018, the SAD-BJP government and later the Congress government, respectively, passed the Bills in the Assembly.
On both occasions, the Bills were returned by the President without assent.
Introducing the Bill in the House on Tuesday, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that this “is an emotive and critical issue that concerns every Punjabi”.