The Punjab Cabinet has approved amendments to CrPC and IPC to make sacrilege of all religious texts punishable with life imprisonment, thus taking a major step towards curbing such incidents and maintaining communal harmony in the state.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, here on Tuesday. The Cabinet also approved a series of other Bills to be tabled before the Assembly in the forthcoming session.
According to an official spokesperson, the Cabinet has approved insertion of Section 295AA 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.”
Committed to preserve communal harmony in the state, Capt Amarinder Singh tweeted, “The Cabinet today decided on amendments to IPC to make sacrilege of all religious texts punishable with life imprisonment. We will place the Bill in the Vidhan Sabha for approval. I stand firmly committed to preserve communal harmony in the State.”
