CHANDIGARH, APRIL 13 — Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema declared in the Assembly on Monday that the passage of the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Bill, 2026, marks the end of an era where culprits of sacrilege enjoyed political protection. Advocating for the Bill, Cheema maintained that the Bhagwant Mann government has delivered the nation’s strictest law to ensure that justice is no longer delayed.
The Minister stated that the new legislation introduces life imprisonment and a penalty of ₹25 lakh, effectively making sacrilege a non-bailable offense. Cheema affirmed that this decisive move provides the legal teeth that were intentionally omitted by previous administrations to shield guilty parties.
“Opposition misled people for years while culprits roamed free,” Minister Cheema stated. “Under the leadership of CM Bhagwant Singh Mann, we are working hard to provide justice to the people. We filed the challans to finally fix accountability where previous administrations only formed SITs.”
Tracing the history of sacrilege from the 1986 Nakodar incident to 2015, the Finance Minister asserted that SAD, BJP, and Congress regimes failed to act. He noted that while past commissions were formed, their reports were allowed to vanish and evidence was tampered with. Cheema maintained that the current government is the first to prioritize the sentiments of the people over political convenience.
