Pargat moves privilege motion against Mann, says he misled House on 2018 sacrilege Bills

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Punjab Congress chief Pargat Singh on Thursday moved a privilege motion against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, accusing him of misleading the House on the status of the 2018 anti-sacrilege Bills.

The notice, addressed to Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and submitted through Vidhan Sabha Secretary Ram Lok Khatana on the opening day of the Assembly session, seeks a prima facie examination of the matter, clarification from the Chief Minister, and referral to the Committee of Privileges if the allegations are substantiated.

"Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had misled the House regarding the 2018 Punjab anti-sacrilege Bill and the documents sent by the Legislative Assembly to the President's office," Pargat, who is also the who is also the Jalandhar Cantt MLA, said in a statement.

In the notice, Pargat refers to proceedings on April 13, 2026, when the House was discussing the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Bill, 2026. The notice states that he had put a question to the CM about the anti-sacrilege bills passed by the Vidhan Sabha in 2018 -- the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018 and the related Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018 -- and about Mann's meeting with the Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the matter.

According to the notice, the CM responded by referring to the action taken by the President regarding a 2016 Bill rather than the 2018 Bills, and presented that as the answer. Pargat contends this was contrary to facts.

The Congress MLA's notice also highlights the key differences between the two sets of Bills. He said that the 2016 Bills, passed under the SAD-BJP government, proposed life imprisonment primarily for sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib and faced serious constitutional objections from the Centre on grounds of unequal treatment based on religion, violating principles of equality and secularism.

The 2018 Bills, passed under the Congress government led by Capt Amarinder Singh, introduced uniform provisions of punishment (up to life imprisonment) for sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib, Bhagavad Gita, Quran, and Bible, aiming to align with constitutional equality.

The notice further notes that CM Mann met Shah in December 2022 and specifically demanded Presidential approval for the 2018 Bills, making any claim of unawareness about the distinction untenable. Referring to the 2016 Bill in response to a question about the 2018 Bills, the notice argues, amounts to misleading the House on important legislative and constitutional facts.

He said the Vidhan Sabha is a vital democratic institution where every member has the right to receive accurate information based on facts and official documents. "It is the government's responsibility to present the facts clearly before the House. If there are discrepancies between the chief minister's statements and official documents, the matter must be investigated impartially and the truth brought before the public," Pargat later said.

He said he has requested the Speaker for a prima facie examination of the issue, clarification from the Chief Minister, referral to the Committee of Privileges for investigation and appropriate action if the facts confirm misleading of the House.

Speaking to media persons outside the House, Pargat also accused the AAP government of backtracking on amendments to the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026, despite, what he described as, a consensus among all Punjab MLAs reached in the presence of the the Akal Takht Jathedar. He alleged that the government was not only avoiding the amendments to the law but was also retreating from consultations with Sikh institutions and a discussion on the sensitive issue in the Vidhan Sabha.

Stating that issue of sacrilege is deeply connected with Punjab's religious sentiments, faith and the trust of its people, he said, "the government must explain why it is unwilling to proceed in accordance with the consensus reached earlier and what objection it has to an open discussion on the issue in the Assembly"

He said that matters involving religious sentiments must be handled with transparency, sensitivity and accountability rather than political rhetoric. "The people of Punjab have the right to know the current status of the proposed amendments to the anti-sacrilege law and the actual position regarding the documents sent to the President's Office in 2018," he said, adding that establishing the truth is essential to protecting the dignity of the Legislative Assembly and upholding parliamentary conventions.

Through the privilege motion, he has sought scrutiny of the chief minister's role and accountability in the matter, so that the rights of the House and the dignity of democratic institutions are preserved, Singh added.

The Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Bill, 2026, was unanimously passed by the Punjab Assembly on April 13. It includes a provision for stricter punishment, including life imprisonment for any act of sacrilege against the Guru Granth Sahib. It also proposes fines from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh. However, the Akal Takht raised several objections to the law, particularly related to some Sikh terminology, the "custodian" of the religious text and assigning unique numbers to the holy "Birs".