CHANDIGARH—In an attempt to put control over rising sacrilege incidents in Punjab, the Congress led Punjab government on August 21 approved necessary amendments to the relevant sections of Cr.P.C (Code of Criminal Procedure) and the Indian Penal Code to make sacrilege of all religious scriptures punishable with life imprisonment. The development came in a meeting of Punjab Cabinet held at Chandigarh under the leadership of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.
According to an official spokesperson, the Cabinet has approved the insertion of Section 295-A-A to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to provide that “whoever causes injury, damage or sacrilege to Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Srimad Bhagwad Geeta, Holy Quran and Holy Bible with the intention to hurt the religious feelings of the people, shall be punished with imprisonment for life.”
Sikh24 has learnt that the Punjab Cabinet has okayed the withdrawal of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016 (Bill No.7-PLA-2016) and the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016 (Bill No.6-PLA-2016), passed in the 12th Session of 14th Punjab Assembly in 2016. The Punjab government is going to introduce ‘The Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018 and the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018, in the forthcoming session of Punjab Assembly scheduled to begin on August 24.
