Chandigarh, April 14 -- The Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Monday unanimously passed the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Bill-2026, proposing stringent punishments, including life imprisonment and fines up to Rs.25 lakh, for acts of beadbi (sacrilege) against the Guru Granth Sahib. The anti-sacrilege bill was passed by the House by a voice vote during the one-day session specially convened by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on the occasion of Baisakhi. The bill was tabled by chief minister Bhagwant Mann, who also holds the home portfolio, to amend the original Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Act-2008, with the aim of providing a stringent legal deterrent against attempts to disturb communal harmony through organised acts of desecration. Following the passage, the bill will now be sent to Punjab governor Gulab Chand Kataria for assent. The governor may either grant assent, allowing it to become law, return the bill for reconsideration, or reserve it for the President. Former acting jathedar of Akal Takht Giani Raghbir Singh, Rajya Sabha member Balbir Singh Seechewal, the CM's wife Gurpreet Kaur, several members from the Sant Samaj and leaders of various deras were present in the governor's gallery during the proceedings. The bill, passed after nearly three hours of discussion, provides for stringent punishments for sacrilege (beadbi) of the Guru Granth Sahib. It proposes imprisonment of not less than seven years, extendable up to 20 years, along with a fine ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, for any individual found guilty of sacrilege of a saroop of the Guru Granth Sahib. Stricter penalties - imprisonment of not less than 10 years, extendable to life, along with fines up to Rs 25 lakh - have been proposed for an act of sacrilege carried out as part of a criminal conspiracy with the intention of disrupting peace or communal harmony. According to the bill, any individual who abets the commission of an offence under this Act shall be liable to the same punishment as provided for the offence so abetted. Further, any person who attempts to commit an offence shall face imprisonment of not less than three years, extendable up to five years, along with a fine of up to Rs 3 lakh. The bill seeks to define 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." Additionally, the bill also proposes imprisonment of up to five years along with fine of up to Rs 10 lakh for contravention of provisions other than those related to sacrilege. The bill seeks to insert a new section in the 2008 Act mandating the SGPC to maintain a central register of saroops, allotting each a unique identification number, along with details of printing, storage, distribution, and supply. The register is to maintained in physical and electronic form and be available on SGPC's website, according to the bill approved by a voice vote. Defining the duties and responsibilities of custodian of a saroop, the bill requires them to ensure its safe custody, protection from damage, misuse, or loss in any manner and to observe the Sikh Rehat Maryada. Also, any damage, disappearance, or suspected sacrilege is to be reported to police authorities and the concerned management authority. Another proposed change is the substitution of words "bir" and "birs" with "saroop" and "saroops" in the legislation. The bill also seeks to classify offences under this law as "cognisable, non-bailable and non-compoundable", to be tried by a sessions court. It further proposes investigation by a police officer not below the rank of deputy superintendent of police or assistant commissioner of police. Speaking on the bill, Mann said that the previous Congress and SAD-BJP governments not only failed to take the cases of sacrilege to a conclusive end, but also passed ineffective laws which failed legal scrutiny. "Now, this is the final law and we will not require to frame another one, as it covers all aspects, creates the toughest legal framework, and will come into force after the governor's assent," he said. He added that the state assembly is amending the state Act, which has already received the governor's clearance in the past. Mann asserted that this bill shuts all scope for loopholes by making those involved in conspiracy and aiding sacrilege equally accountable. "The amended law will put an end to incidents of desecration in future, and no one will dare to indulge in such an unholy act," he claimed. Leader of Opposition and Congress MLA Partap Singh Bajwa, while expressing his party's support for the bill, sought details on the findings of a select committee of the House constituted last year under AAP MLA Inderbir Singh Nijjar for wider consultations with the Sant Samaj, legislators and other stakeholders on an anti-sacrilege bill. He added that Nijjar should have first shared details of consultations held by the committees with members. Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan said the committee was doing its work. Bajwa said there was a need to inform people of Punjab that Mann and (AAP national convener) Arvind Kejriwal had promised to make public the report of SIT, led by Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, and initiate action in the 2015 sacrilege cases and subsequent police firing at anti-sacrilege protesters within 48 hours. "People of Punjab want answers from you. You have not done anything in four years (of AAP rule)," he added. Sandhwan told Bajwa that it was the AAP government which got investigation into the 2015 police firing cases completed follwing which chargesheets were filed. The Congress leader also raised the issue of shifting five cases outside Punjab, claiming that the present government did not object to their transfer. He further stated that the AAP's "poster boy", Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, was no longer in the party and that the cases had also been transferred, triggering a sharp reaction from Mann, who said that the CM and finance minister of the previous Congress government (referring to Capt Amarinder Singh and Manpreet Badal) were also out of that party. Bajwa also asked the Mann government about the action taken against police officials involved in the police firing cases, including the status of departmental proceedings and the number of policemen exonerated. Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira said that 97 cases of sacrilege have taken place so far and there is no system of giving justice. His party colleague, Pargat Singh, raised questions about the change in the nature of the 2008 law, which, according to him, was originally meant for regulatory purposes. Mann, however, reiterated that as it is a state bill, Presidential assent will not be required. "In case approval takes time, I will call on the governor and urge him to clear it immediately," he added. Earlier, cabinet minister Harpal Cheema, while describing the bill's provisions as the "strictest", accused the opposition of attempting to mislead the public. He claimed that the sequence of 'beadbi' events began when the SAD and the BJP were in power in Punjab. The incident related to the theft of a 'bir' (copy) of Guru Ganth Sahib from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala gurdwara, surfacing of handwritten sacrilegious posters in Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala and torn pages of the holy book found scattered at Bargari. These incidents had led to anti-sacrilege protests in the district. In the police firing at protesters in October 2015, two people were killed in Behbal Kalan while some were injured at Kotkapura....