Draft Bill on harsher punishment for sacrilege to be tabled today

The Punjab Government will be tabling its draft Bill to give harsher punishment for cases of sacrilege in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Friday. However, this Bill will not be enacted immediately.

The two-day Special Session, which began today, may be extended by two days till Tuesday. The Business Advisory Committee has recommended the extension of the session, which will also be presented before the House on Friday for approval.

This Special Assembly Session had been convened to get the Bill against sacrilege passed, with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announcing earlier that he wanted to include capital punishment for offences of sacrilege of any religion. It is learnt that the draft Bill on sacrilege is being given final shape and may include punishment of imprisonment for 10 years.

Official sources say that they are examining all legal aspects as they should bring a Bill that should not suffer repugnancy from the existing provisions in Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita. Announcing the decision to table the draft in the Vidhan Sabha on Friday, Bhagwant Mann said that they would like to first seek the opinion of the public, religious leaders and organisations and lawmakers on the Bill before it is enacted.

“We will first table the draft Bill to have proper consultation. This is a big change in existing laws and has widespread repercussions as the law will remain in perpetuity. That is why there is need to have a thorough consultation. We have seen how many laws like the Dowry Prohibition Act are later misused… so I want to make a fool-proof Act,” he said.

The state government is making its own Act, rather than using the existing provisions in Section 298 and 299 of Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) that deal with cases of sacrilege. “We want wider public opinion on the issue. A consultative committee will be formed to discuss the provisions of the Bill with all stakeholders before we enact it. The committee will then hold deliberations and come back with suggestions that can be incorporated if found legally tenable,” said Mann.

Other than this, the government will also be bringing an official resolution withdrawing the consent given to BBMB by the previous Capt Amarinder Singh government to deploy central forces, said Bhagwant Mann.

Punjab