The Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018

Punjab state Assembly unanimously passed Bills for an amendment to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C) to make “sacrilege of all religious texts punishable with life imprisonment.” The decision was primarily influenced by the violent protests set off by the tearing of the pages of the Quran and the Guru Granth Sahib nearly three years ago.

Key Highlights

• This is only the latest example of mass politics around religion driving laws against sacrilege and blasphemy in the subcontinent. The trend stretches back nearly a century.
• Section 295AA: The Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018 has inserted Section 295AA to the IPC to provide that, “whoever causes injury, damage or sacrilege to Sri Guru Granth Sahib, SrimadBhagwad Gita, Holy Quran and Holy Bible with the intention to hurt the religious feelings of the people, shall be punished with imprisonment for life.”