Punjab’s Anti-Sacrilege Bill Could Trigger Repression, Violence: Former Civil Servants

Group of 79 Ex-Civil Servants Warn Proposed Law Violates Constitutional Freedoms

October 1, 2025

A group of 79 retired civil servants has raised alarm over a draft law in Punjab that seeks to criminalise sacrilege, warning that it could open the door to repression, religious strife, and misuse of power. In a joint letter, they urged the state’s legislature to scrap the proposed Punjab Prevention of Offences Against Holy Scriptures Act, 2025 entirely.

The bill, introduced on July 14 by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as reported by The New Indian Express, recommends life imprisonment and steep fines for anyone accused of offending religious texts. The Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), which includes several former top bureaucrats, described it as a direct blow to India’s democratic foundations and a threat to secular governance.

One of the biggest concerns is how the bill treats intent.

Under normal criminal law, the intent behind an action matters. If you knock over a sacred text by accident, that is not a crime. But this bill throws that principle out the window. It treats even unintentional acts as criminal. That, the group says, introduces “strict liability” into criminal law, a move they argue violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, which protect equality before law and the right to liberty.

To illustrate how broad and dangerous the bill is, the CCG pointed to its vague language. “Holy Scriptures,” for instance, are defined as any texts considered sacred by “respective religious denominations.” That could mean anything from the Bhagavad Gita to a pamphlet revered by a small sect. The bill lists texts from four religions (Sikhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity), but names only one scripture for Hinduism, even though Hinduism includes dozens, if not hundreds, of texts considered sacred by various groups. That kind of selective listing creates confusion and can fuel resentment.

Imagine if a student quotes from a religious text in a classroom debate, and someone takes offence. Under this bill, that student could face a criminal case. The CCG warned that the law would allow anyone claiming offence to start legal proceedings, making it easy for troublemakers or political groups to harass critics, academics, or artists.

The letter draws attention to a 2010 Freedom House report, which found that laws treating sacrilege as a serious offence tend to promote intolerance and abuse. The report noted that in countries where such laws exist, they are often used by powerful groups to silence minorities and punish dissenting voices. The CCG believes Punjab risks going down the same path.

This is especially dangerous in Punjab, where religious divides often run along caste lines. Several sects with large Dalit followings, such as the Ravidassia and Valmiki communities, are frequently branded heretical by orthodox Sikh groups. For instance, some mainstream Sikh organisations do not accept the Ravidassia sect’s decision to regard the Amritbani Guru Ravidass Ji as their holy book instead of the Guru Granth Sahib. These tensions have already led to clashes in the past, including violence and social boycotts.

A law like this, which allows criminal cases to be filed over perceived insults to scriptures, could be misused to target these Dalit groups, escalate sectarian hostility, and deepen social fault lines in the state. It does not take much imagination to picture how a powerful group might claim that a rival sect insulted a sacred text, and use the law to settle scores.

Data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) showed a sharp rise in cases filed under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code, which penalises promotion of enmity between groups based on religion, race, language, caste, or place of birth. Some have described this provision, along with Section 295A, which criminalises deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings, as the Indian version of a blasphemy law.

The number of cases jumped from 336 in 2014 to 1,886 in 2020 and stood at 1,104 in 2021. Yet, the conviction rate in 2020 was only 20.2%, while police pendency remained high at 64.3%. This pattern reveals a troubling gap between accusation and actual guilt. People are frequently arrested and charge-sheeted, but many cases collapse in court after years of legal battle. Without any legal safeguard to prevent false or malicious complaints, the system ends up punishing those merely accused. Individuals may face lengthy investigations, time in custody, social stigma and psychological stress, despite no conviction.

The former civil servants argued that India’s existing laws are already capable of handling deliberate insults to religion. Section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (which replaced Section 295A of the IPC), punishes aggravated acts meant to outrage religious feelings. In a 1957 ruling, the Supreme Court made clear that even this law applies only to serious and intentional insults, and carries a maximum sentence of four years. The proposed bill, in contrast, makes sacrilege punishable by life imprisonment.

Further, the offences listed under the proposed bill are classified as cognisable, non-bailable and non-compoundable, which means they carry serious legal consequences from the outset. Police can arrest a person without a warrant and begin an investigation immediately after receiving a complaint. Once arrested, the accused cannot seek bail as a matter of right and must apply to the court, which may or may not grant it. Because the offence is non-compoundable, it cannot be settled between the accused and the complainant, even if both parties later wish to resolve the matter. This legal structure gives sweeping powers to the police and leaves little room for discretion or reconciliation, increasing the risk of prolonged detention, misuse and harassment.

The group pointed out that the draft law echoes past efforts by Punjab to introduce stricter blasphemy provisions.

In 2015 and 2018, similar amendments to Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code, were proposed. The CCG had opposed them then, and their objections remain unchanged. Back in 2018, they had warned that such laws undermined constitutional freedoms and could be twisted to target those who think or speak differently. This new version, they say, carries all the same dangers and adds fresh ones.

“Reducing the rule of law to an instrument of repression” is how the group described the likely result. They fear it will encourage religious extremism, shrink the space for debate and inquiry, and hand too much power to those eager to use religion for political gain.

India has already seen how this plays out. The letter mentioned past political efforts to cater to religious sentiments that ended up weakening the secular structure of the country. The outcome, they said, has been rising attacks on minorities and growing social discord.

In their closing appeal, the group urged Punjab’s lawmakers to reject the bill entirely. “The proposed legislation is bad in law,” they wrote, adding that it would do long-term damage to India’s constitutional order. They asked the Select Committee reviewing the bill to recommend its complete withdrawal.

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