The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, passed the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Bill, 2026, during a special legislative session held at Sri Anandpur Sahib on Vaisakhi (April 13, 2026). The legislation amends the original Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Act of 2008.
For the public record and the benefit of Sikh Siyasat News readers, a copy of the bill is provided below:
⊕ Jagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Bill, 2026 (DOWNLOAD PDF)
Key Provisions of Jagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act 2026:
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Stringent Punishments: The Act prescribes life imprisonment and a fine of up to ₹25 lakh for acts of sacrilege committed through criminal conspiracy with the intent to disrupt peace or communal harmony. Lesser offences or attempts carry prison terms ranging from 3 to 5 years, up to a minimum of 10 years for direct offences.
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Nature of Offence: All offences under this Act are declared cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable. Trials are exclusively handled by Sessions Courts, and investigations must be led by a police officer not below the rank of DSP or ACP.
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Expanded Definition of Sacrilege: The law covers physical damage (destruction, mutilation, unauthorized removal) as well as expressive conduct (verbal, written, symbolic, or digital) undertaken with deliberate intent to offend Sikh religious sentiments.
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Digital Central Register: It mandates the creation of a Central Register by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to track the printing, storage, distribution, and supply of the holy scriptures.
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Terminology Update: The statutory language was updated to align with religious doctrines, replacing the terms “Bir/Birs” with “Saroop/Saroops”.
What Led to Enactment:
The push for this legislation stems from deep-rooted emotional, religious, and political factors in Punjab over the last decade:
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The 2015 Bargari Sacrilege: The theft and subsequent desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib in Bargari village in 2015 triggered statewide unrest, police firings (Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura), and global outrage among the Sikh community. Since then, there has been a persistent public demand for harsher, deterrent punishments.
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Demand for Strict law: A section of the Sikh community was demanding that a strict law must be passed to provide for strengent punishment for sacrilege.
Previous Attempts at Anti-Sacrilege Laws
Punjab has a long history of attempting to pass robust anti-sacrilege legislation, often running into constitutional or jurisdictional hurdles:
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The Original 2008 Act: The Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Act, 2008 was originally passed to regulate the unauthorized printing and distribution of the holy scriptures by private publishers, placing the authority primarily with the SGPC. It did not have the harsh penal provisions for sacrilege that the 2026 amendment introduced.
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The 2015 IPC Amendment (SAD-BJP Government): Following the Bargari incident, the state government passed the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2015. It sought to insert Section 295AA into the IPC, making the sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib punishable by life imprisonment. However, the Central Government returned the bill, objecting that a secular legal framework could not single out the holy book of just one religion.
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The 2018 IPC Amendment (Congress Government): To address the Centre’s objections, the Punjab government passed a revised Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018. This bill expanded the scope of life imprisonment to cover the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, the Holy Quran, and the Holy Bible. This bill remained stuck pending Presidential assent for years.
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The 2025 Prevention of Offences Bill: In July 2025, the current AAP government introduced The Punjab Prevention of Offences against Holy Scripture(s) Bill, 2025 aimed at similar goals, before ultimately shifting focus to thoroughly amending the state’s specific 2008 Satkar Act in April 2026.
Controversy over the Amendment Act:
While the 2026 Act has been enacted, it has recently sparked debate. SGPC and the SGPC appointed Jathedar of Akal Takht Sahib along with many other Sikh organizations and institutions have raised objections to certain provisions—such as the government-mandated digital surveillance of Saroop records—arguing it infringes upon the exclusive domain of the Khalsa Panth and Sikh institutions.
The SGPC’s Role in the 2008 Act
Currently, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the SGPC-appointed Jathedar of the Akal Takht are condemning certain sections of the 2026 Amendment Act as government interference in Sikh affairs and maryada (code of conduct). Ironically, it was the SGPC itself that initially lobbied the Punjab Assembly to enact the original 2008 legislation.
Through multiple resolutions (passed on November 18, 1966, and March 29, 2005), the SGPC demanded that the state assembly “grant” them the exclusive right to print and prepare saroops of the Guru Granth Sahib. Furthermore, in a resolution passed on November 23, 2007, the SGPC General House formally thanked then-Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for facilitating the enactment of the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Act, 2008.
Early Warnings from the Sikh Students Federation (2007–08)
When the SGPC was pushing for the 2008 state legislation, the Sikh Students Federation (SSF), led by Bhai Parmjeet Singh Gazi, strongly cautioned against the move.
The SSF argued that the printing and preparation of the Guru Granth Sahib fall under the exclusive domain of the Khalsa Panth. They advised that any contemporary challenges should be resolved internally through a Gurmata (a collective decision as per Khalsa Ji’s tradition) of the Khalsa Panth, rather than by consenting to state legislation.
The SSF issued a stark warning: while the government of the day might draft the law according to the SGPC’s advice, future governments could unilaterally amend it without consulting the Sikh community. They emphasized that inviting state legislation into the Khalsa Panth’s sovereign jurisdiction amounted to an unconditional surrender that would be incredibly difficult to reverse.
The SGPC ignored these cautions. Today, those apprehensions have materialized: the Bhagwant Mann government has amended the law without the SGPC’s concurrence, leaving the SGPC and the Jathedars in the awkward position of protesting a legal framework they helped create.
The Flaw in the SGPC’s Present Approach
Even today, the SGPC’s strategy remains fundamentally flawed. Rather than demanding the complete abrogation of the Act, the committee is merely lobbying to have specific sections of the new amendment changed.
While a partial rollback by the Punjab Assembly might temporarily satisfy the concerns of the SGPC and other opposing Sikh organizations, this approach fails to address the root issue. By accepting the existence of the 2008 Act rather than pushing to repeal it entirely, the SGPC continues to leave the door wide open for future governments to legally interfere in core Sikh religious affairs.
