Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha on Friday introduced a private member’s bill in Parliament seeking the maximum punishment for acts of sacrilege against religious scriptures, such as the Guru Granth Sahib, the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible and the Quran.
Private member’s bills are introduced in Parliament independently by MPs.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Chadha said that his bill proposes to amend the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita to make sacrilege cases against religious scriptures an offence carrying the highest punishment.
The Aam Aadmi Party MP claimed that Punjab had witnessed several cases of sacrilege, adding that the state Assembly in 2018 passed a similar bill to provide for life imprisonment for such incidents.
That bill was returned by the president, he said. “Subsequently, the Punjab Assembly has again tabled a new bill giving maximum punishment of 10 years to life for sacrilege cases,” Chadha added.
In July, the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab introduced the 2025 Punjab Prevention of Offences Against Holy Scripture(s) Bill in the state Assembly.
It proposes life imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh for acts of sacrilege against religious scriptures.
The bill has been referred to a select committee of legislators for consultation with stakeholders.
Critics have said that the bill poses a grave threat to constitutional values and “goes against the very grain of a secular polity”. They have argued that the bill is a regressive move that undermines freedom of expression.
Also read: Punjab’s anti-sacrilege bill goes against secular polity, say former bureaucrats
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