Chandigarh, April 22: A new legal challenge has been filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking to quash the “Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026.” Jalandhar resident Simranjeet Singh, who filed the petition in person, maintained that the legislation is constitutionally invalid because it lacked Presidential assent under Article 254(2) of the Constitution. The Act, which provides for life imprisonment in certain sacrilege cases, was notified on April 20 after receiving only the Governor’s approval.
The petitioner asserted that because the Act creates criminal penalties that fall within the Concurrent List and remain inconsistent with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Governor’s assent alone is insufficient. The plea further contended that the high-penalty framework applies exclusively to the saroops of the Guru Granth Sahib. Singh declared that by excluding other religious scriptures, the law fails the test of equality before law and violates the principle of secularism under Article 14.
“The Act provides an exclusive high-penalty framework solely for the saroops of Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib,” the petition stated. Singh declared that equating conspiracy to commit sacrilege with the punishment for murder is disproportionate and amounts to “manifest arbitrariness.” He further affirmed that the broad definition of sacrilege, which includes electronic means and signs, is overly vague and could create a chilling effect on freedom of speech.
