Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday introduced the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Bill, 2026, in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, proposing life imprisonment and a fine of up to ₹25 lakh for the sacrilege (beadbi) of the Guru Granth Sahib. The move aims to provide a stringent legal deterrent against attempts to disturb communal harmony through organised acts of desecration.
The Bill defines sacrilege as “any wilful and deliberate act, committed with the intent of desecration by way of physical damaging, defacing, burning, tearing or theft of the Saroop(s) of Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib or part thereof, or by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or through electronic means or otherwise, which is of such a nature as to hurt the religious feelings of persons professing the Sikh faith.”
Stricter penalties, conspiracy clauses
The Bill mandates that any individual found guilty of sacrilege of the saroop of the Guru Granth Sahib as part of a criminal conspiracy will face a minimum of 10 years in prison, extendable to life.
In a major escalation of financial penalties, the legislation also proposes fines ranging from ₹5 lakh to ₹25 lakh. Crucially, the Bill treats abettors—those who incite or facilitate the crime—on par with the primary offenders, making them liable for the same maximum punishment.
The legislation was necessitated by recent attempts to disrupt peace in the state. “The government is determined not to allow such incidents and ensure deterrent action against all those who commit such sacrilege,” the Bill says, emphasising that the life term is intended as a definitive deterrent.
Longstanding demand for justice
The introduction of this Bill follows a decade of political and social unrest in Punjab triggered by the 2015 Bargari sacrilege and subsequent police firing incidents at Behbal Kalan.
Hindustan Times has previously reported on the recurring criticism faced by successive governments for their failure to secure convictions of the “masterminds” behind these conspiracies.
While the previous Congress-led government attempted a similar amendment in 2018, that version included other religious texts and faced delays in receiving Presidential assent. The 2026 Bill specifically focuses on the Guru Granth Sahib, reflecting the current administration’s effort to address a primary demand of Panthic organisations and fulfil a key electoral promise of ensuring justice in sacrilege cases.
Oppn questions delay in 2015 sacrilege cases
Leader of Opposition and Congress MLA Partap Singh Bajwa began by expressing his party’s support for the Bill, but asked the AAP government about the action taken against the guilty in the Behbal Kalan and Bargari cases of 2015. “More than 48 months have passed but nothing has been done,” he said. The Congress leader said that the AAP government did not object when all five cases were transferred outside Punjab.
He also asked the Bhagwant Mann government about the action taken against police officials involved in the police firing. “Did you talk to constitutional experts so that this Bill does not meet the same fate as the previous attempts to provide for stricter punishments? What did they say?” he asked, highlighting concerns over the Bill’s eventual legal sustainability.
Several members from the Sant Samaj and leaders of various sects (deras) are present in the governor’s box during the assembly proceedings.
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