Chandigarh, Aug. 19 -- The Punjab Vidhan Sabha's Select Committee, set up to deliberate on the sensitive issue of sacrilege of religious scriptures, on Tuesday held another round of consultations with subject experts.

The committee, chaired by Inderbir Singh Nijjar, has been examining the draft legislation, The Punjab Prevention of Offences Against Holy Scriptures Bill, 2025, introduced in the state Assembly earlier this year. Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan had constituted the panel to hold wide-ranging discussions and seek public opinion before the Bill is finalised. Advertisements were issued on July 31 and August 14 inviting public suggestions, and officials said a large number of responses are being received.

During the latest meeting, held on Tuesday, scholars from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, joined deliberations. Among them were Prof. Amarjit Singh (Head, Sikh Studies), Dr. Syed Raihan Hasan Rizvi (Chairman, Urdu-Persian Department), Prof. Sunil Kumar (Head, Hindi Department), Prof. Pawan Kumar (Law Department), Dr. Pintu Emerson (Architecture), and Prof. Satnam Singh Deol (Head, Political Science). Committee members said their inputs would help refine the provisions of the draft law.

The committee extended gratitude to the participating academics for their contributions. All members of the panel, including the chairman, were present.

Looking ahead, the committee has also invited inputs from the legal fraternity. The President of the Bar Association and Chairman of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana High Court have been requested to share their views during the next meeting scheduled for August 26. Retired judges of the High Court have also been asked to submit written suggestions.

Earlier, on August 12, the committee interacted with experts from Punjabi University, Patiala, including Dr. Jaspreet Kaur Sandhu (Department of Sikhism), Dr. Gurmeet Singh Sidhu (Department of Religion), Dr. Dharamvir Singh (Sikhism), Dr. Gurmail Singh, Dr. Jaswinder Singh, and Dr. Tejinder Kaur (Religious Studies). They shared their perspectives and made detailed suggestions regarding the Bill.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.