The move comes amid growing political and public pressure for tougher punishment. Gurjeet Singh Khalsa has been protesting since October last year atop a BSNL tower in Samana (Patiala), demanding the death penalty for those found guilty of sacrilege.The first legislative effort came in 2016 when the SAD-BJP government introduced The Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016 and The Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016, recommending life imprisonment for desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib. However, the Centre returned the bills, stating that the amendments must apply to all religions in keeping with the secular principles of the Constitution.In 2018, the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government passed two similar bills, expanding the scope to include the Guru Granth Sahib, Bhagavad Gita, Holy Quran, and Holy Bible, but these too failed to secure Presidential assent. The Union Government recently returned these bills, advising the state to draft fresh legislation under the framework of the new BNS.
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