Punjab Vidhan Sabha select committee seeks expert views on bill against sacrilege

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], August 20 (ANI): The Punjab Vidhan Sabha Select Committee, constituted to examine "The Punjab Prevention of Offences against Holy Scriptures Bill, 2025," held a meeting on Tuesday with subject experts from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, to deliberate on measures to curb the sacrilege of religious scriptures.
The Select Committee, headed by MLA Inderbir Singh Nijjar, was set up by Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan after the government introduced the draft legislation in the Assembly. The committee has been holding weekly meetings to seek the views of experts and the public. Advertisements had been issued in newspapers on July 31 and August 14 to invite suggestions, and the committee has received a considerable number of responses.
In the meeting held on Tuesday, experts including Prof. Amarjit Singh, Head, Department of Sikh Studies; Dr Syed Raihan Hasan Rizvi, Chairman, Urdu Persian Department; Prof. Sunil Kumar, Head, Hindi Department; Prof. Pawan Kumar, Law Department; Dr Pintu Emerson, Department of Architecture; and Prof. Satnam Singh Deol, Head, Department of Political Science, participated in discussions and offered their suggestions on the bill.
Earlier, in a meeting on August 12, scholars from Punjabi University, Patiala--Dr. Jaspreet Kaur Sandhu, Dr. Gurmeet Singh Sidhu, Dr. Dharamvir Singh, Dr. Gurmail Singh, Dr. Jaswinder Singh and Dr. Tejinder Kaur had presented their views before the committee.
The Select Committee expressed gratitude to the subject experts for their inputs. It has also requested the President of the Bar Association and the Chairman of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana High Court to share their views at its next meeting scheduled for August 26. Retired judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court have been asked to provide written suggestions.
All members of the committee, including the chairman, were present during the deliberations. (ANI)