Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann meets Amit Shah, seeks early President nod to two sacrilege Bills

Tribune News Service

New Delhi/Chandigarh Dec 9

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and sought the Centre’s intervention in getting an early presidential assent for two important state Bills passed by the state stipulating harsher punishment for perpetrators of heinous crimes of sacrilege.

Asserting that sacrilege of holy books was a major challenge in Punjab, Mann said it had been felt that the quantum of punishment for such crimes under the existing provisions of Sections 295 and 295-A in the IPC was inadequate.

Laws stipulate harsher punishment for accused

• With fresh cases of sacrilege being reported every now and then, and cross-border smuggling of arms becoming a big issue, the state government wants to have a stricter law in place so that the communal harmony in the state is not disturbed
• Two Bills -- "The Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018" and "The Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill 2018" were passed by the previous Congress government
• The Bills provide for punishment up to life imprisonment for injury, damage or sacrilege to all holy books, with the intention to hurt the religious feelings of the people

Mann told Shah the Punjab Assembly had passed ‘The Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018’, and ‘The Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill 2018’, which stipulated a punishment of up to life imprisonment for injury, damage or sacrilege to Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Bhagavad Gita, Quran and the Bible, committed with the intention to hurt people’s religious sentiments. The CM said the Bills were pending with the President for assent since October 2018.

The AAP, all through its campaign, had been saying that if elected to power in Punjab, it would bring to justice all accused in the sacrilege incidents of 2015. But after assuming power, the ruling AAP realised that both the have been awaiting Presidential nod.

Sources in the state government say that the Centre had been raising several objections and has returned the Bills, seeking more clarification, which has been provided. The major objection is to the punishment in the Bills being too harsh.

The CM also drew the Home Minister’s attention towards the issue of constructions near border. He said as per international norms, constructions could come only beyond 150 metres of the zero line. But at some places in Punjab the border security fence was at a huge distance from the zero line, he said.

The CM said since a huge chunk of cultivable land fell between the International Border and the existing fence, several farmers who had to cross the border fence for farming faced a lot of hardships on a daily basis. This also increased the workload of the Border Security Force, he said.

Mann urged Shah to explore the possibility of shifting the border fence towards the actual IB wherever possible. He also urged Shah to fund the state police liberally to ensure modernisation.

Mann, who also called on Union Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, sought his help for release of pending arrears of Rural Development Fee and Market Development Fee worth Rs 3,095 crore.

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