Punjab police lodges 1st case under sacrilege Act

BAthinda: constabulary in Punjab’s Muktsar territory feature registered the number one caseful under the controversial new sacrilege act that came into force on April 20 after torn pages of a Sukhmani Sahib gutka (prayer book) were found scattered on a street in Malout town on Thursday.Police said an FIR was registered on Thursday night at Malout police station against unidentified persons under the Jaagat Jyot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act based on a complaint of Jangir Singh, a resident of the town.Muktsar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Abhimanyu Rana said “the incident does not appear to be a deliberate act of mischief” but added that “a team led by deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Harpreet Singh Mann is currently questioning the local residents.”Around 40 recovered pages, the SSP said, have been handed over to a nearby gurdwara in accordance with maryada (religious protocol).DSP Mann said police are scanning CCTV footage from the area. “We are also examining whether the damaged prayer book may have reached the area through ragpickers who collect scrap and old textbooks from the town and nearby villages.”Meanwhile, a team from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) met police officials and sought identification of those responsible and appropriate action. SGPC media secretary Harbhajan Singh Vakta said, “Question is not of registration of the FIR, but of the punishment to the culprits irrespective of the act.”SGPC legal advisor advocate Amanbir Singh Syali said, “The FIR has been registered against unknown persons. So, the justice will be seen to materialise when the police identify the culprits.”Speaking on the matter, AAP spokesperson Neel Garg said, “ the Muktsar district police took prompt action in registering a criminal case in accordance with the new law. Police are working to identity the culprits behind the incident.”The Jaagat Jyot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act , enacted by the Punjab assembly, prescribes stringent punishment, including life imprisonment and a fine of up to ₹25 lakh, for the “beadbi” (sacrilege) of the Guru Granth Sahib. It was approved by Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria on April 17, this year.“Several incidents of beadbi in the past have deeply hurt public sentiments and caused unrest. While sections 298, 299, and 300 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, address such matters, they do not prescribe sufficiently stringent punishments to serve as a strong deterrent,” the chief minister’s office (CMO) spokesperson said at the time. .According to data from the state government , 597 cases of sacrilege were reported over the past decade. Of these, 480 involve sacrilege of Sikh religious scriptures and shrines, 92 involve Hindu religious places, 14, Muslim shrines and scriptures and 11, Christian places of worship. So far, out of 597 FIRs, only 44 have ended in conviction.Sacrilege against religious scriptures remains an emotive issue in Punjab and there has been a demand from various quarters for stringent punishment against such a crime.The theft of a “bir” (copy) of the Guru Granth Sahib, recovery of sacrilegious posters, and the alleged tearing of pages of the holy book at Bargari in Faridkot triggered widespread protests in October 2015. Two people were killed at Behbal Kalan, and several others were injured at Kotkapura in Faridkot in police firing on peaceful protesters. The then chief minister late Parkash Singh Badal, SAD president and then home minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, former Punjab Police chief Sumedh Singh Saini are among the accused in these cases.Saini and Sukhbir Badal were named as “masterminds” of conspiracy for illegal and excess use of force to conceal the inaction of the state government on a series of three sacrilege incidents, including theft of Guru Granth Sahib from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala and sacrilege of the Sikh holy book at Bargari.Parkash Badal was accused of “facilitating in the execution of the conspiracy.”On April 9, this year, the Punjab and Haryana high court ordered the transfer of trial in two FIRs related to the 2015 Kotkapura firing incident from Faridkot to Chandigarh. The judicial process in these cases is underway at the Chandigarh district court.