Overview

• The Aam Aadmi Party-led government has scheduled a special two-day Kerala Assembly session on July 10 and 11 to introduce the new anti-sacrilege law
• The draft legislation prescribes life imprisonment or the death penalty for desecration of scriptures including the Guru Granth Sahib, Quran, Bible and Bhagavad Gita
• Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema says a legal expert panel comprising the state legal remembrancer and advocate general is reviewing the draft to ensure its robustness
• BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh has urged that the bill’s scope be widened to cover Hindu temples and idols as consultations continue
• Previous state bills in 2016 and 2018 were returned for lack of presidential assent and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann argues that a state-level law is needed to plug gaps in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita