Chandigarh, April 8 Congress MLA Pargat Singh on Wednesday urged the AAP government in Punjab to consult religious scholars and experts from all faiths before enacting a law on sacrilege.
Singh asserted that the announcement of a special session of the Vidhan Sabha on April 13 to enact a new sacrilege law is nothing but a brazen attempt to mislead the people of Punjab.
"The government is moving to amend the 2008 Act – the Jagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Act, 2008 – while presenting it as a completely new legislation, a move that will yield no substantive benefit whatsoever," he claimed.
Singh stressed that comprehensive consultation with religious scholars and experts from all faiths was an absolute prerequisite before tabling any such legislation.
He further said that the AAP government itself introduced a fresh proposal, 'The Punjab Prevention of Offences Against Holy Scriptures Bill, 2025', in July 2025, only for Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to "unceremoniously abandon it without explanation".
The Assembly referred the Bill to a select committee due to several substantive deficiencies, yet the committee's report has never been made public.
He demanded that the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly immediately requisition the select committee's report and place it in the public domain, so that the identified shortcomings of the 2025 Bill could be addressed with expert guidance and the legislation steered in the right direction.
The former minister further slammed the AAP government, alleging its inaction in the 2015 sacrilege cases.
"Despite its vociferous claims of seeking justice, the government has not advanced a single file pertaining to the old sacrilege incidents – be it the Bargari desecration, the Behbal Kalan firing, or the Kotkapura. Not one perpetrator has been brought to justice," he alleged.
The AAP government has convened a special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on April 13 to amend the Jagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Act, 2008, for stricter punishment against sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib.