Chandigarh: The Punjab Government has taken another step toward enacting a strict law against sacrilege by introducing The Punjab Prevention of Offences Against Holy Scriptures Bill, 2025 in the state Assembly.
Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan has constituted a Select Committee headed by Inderbir Singh Nijjar to examine the draft legislation. The panel is holding weekly meetings and has actively reached out to citizens and scholars for feedback. Advertisements published on July 31 and August 14 invited public suggestions, and several responses have already been received.
On August 12, the committee held discussions with experts from Punjabi University, Patiala. Among those who presented their views were Dr. Jaspreet Kaur Sandhu and Dr. Dharamvir Singh (Sikhism), Dr. Gurmeet Singh Sidhu (Religion), Dr. Gurmail Singh, Dr. Jaswinder Singh, and Dr. Tejinder Kaur (Religious Studies).
At today’s meeting, academics from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, also shared their perspectives. The panel heard inputs from Prof. Amarjit Singh (Sikh Studies), Dr. Syed Raihan Hasan Rizvi (Urdu-Persian), Prof. Sunil Kumar (Hindi), Prof. Pawan Kumar (Law), Dr. Pintu Emerson (Architecture), and Prof. Satnam Singh Deol (Political Science).
The committee expressed gratitude to the experts and announced that its next meeting, scheduled for August 26, will invite the President of the Bar Association, the Chairman of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana, and retired High Court judges for their views.
The government has emphasized that the proposed law aims to uphold the sanctity of all religious scriptures while ensuring the involvement of scholars, citizens, and the legal fraternity in shaping its framework.
