'Akal Takht' Disapproves Anti-Sacrilege Law, Summons Panjab Assembly Speaker

May

2026

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has deferred considering a Public Interest Litigation challenging Panjab’s Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act (JJGGSS), 2026 by 43-year-old Jalandhar resident Simranjeet Singh. The bench questioned the petitioner’s credentials after the Panjab government pointed to past criminal cases registered against him and the suspension of his license to practice law. Panjab Advocate-General Maninderjit Singh Bedi submitted that Simranjeet’s Bar license was earlier suspended amid scrutiny over the genuineness of his academic degree. Meanwhile, taking a different stance from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which hailed the recently enacted Act, Sri Akal Takht Sahib (Eternal Throne, AT) acting Jathedar (leader) Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargajj disapproved of the law on 3 May. Stating that the law has been enacted without taking AT into confidence, Jathedar Gargajj has summoned Panjab Legislative Assembly speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan on 8 May to present his side. Former SGPC General Secretary Bibi Kiranjot Kaur questioned the law, asking, 'Who gives the state the right to interfere between me and my Guru (Guru Granth Sahib, Sikh scripture and charter, GGS)? The government has used colonial terminology Sarbrah (custodian) to reduce the status of the SGPC to merely upkeep of records…Pakistan has the same law because when the British left, they left behind this law. Ask Pakistan how organized crime in the name of the law has increased.' Pakistan commentator Mohammad Hanif echoes this view. Concurrently, the Panjab Police has registered its first case under the new anti-sacrilege law after torn pages of a religious scripture were found in a slum area in Malout, Sri Muktsar Sahib district. The First Information Report against an unknown person was registered 30 Apr night following a complaint by Jangir Singh, a resident of Baba Jiwan Singh Nagar, that torn pages of Sukhmani Sahib Gutka (a smaller version of GGS) were found in Kuchian Mohalla, Malout, an area where around 40–50 households are engaged in scrap-related work. Parallely, AT has rejected a proposal from Mumbai-based Bhanushali Studios, seeking permission to produce a film on the life of legendary Sikh commander Hari Singh Nalua alias Nalwa, citing an existing directive that prohibits films or digital portrayals of historic Sikh warriors (earlier coverage).