Chandigarh, April 14 -- Punjab legislative assembly on Monday gave a six-month extension to a 15-member select committee examining 'Punjab Prevention of Offences against Holy Scriptures Bill, 2025.'

The select panel led by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Inderbir Singh Nijjar was constituted in July last year to review the proposed legislation, which seeks to introduce harsher punishment for desecration of various religious scriptures. The panel has 11 members from the AAP, two from the Congress and one each from the BJP and SAD.

The extension, which began on January 6, will end on July 5. Nijjar proposed an extension in the House, which was allowed unanimously.

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann told the House that to date, 564 suggestions have b...