The new Bill provides for insertion of Section 295AA to the IPC. The new Bill provides for insertion of Section 295AA to the IPC. More than a year after Union government returned Punjab’s Bill proposing life term for desecration of Sikh holy book on the plea that it could not single out a religion, Punjab Cabinet on Tuesday approved amendments to CrPC and IPC to make desecration of all religious texts punishable with life imprisonment. The Bill would be tabled in the upcoming session of Vidhan Sabha on August 24. The government has timed the Bill with the tabling of a report of Justice Ranjit Singh Commission, set up to probe desecration of Guru Granth Sahib in Bargari and subsequent police firing at Behbal Kalan in October 2015. The new Bill provides for insertion of Section 295AA to the IPC to provide that “whoever causes injury, damage or sacrilege to Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Srimad Bhagwad Gita, Holy Quran and Holy Bible with the intention to hurt the religious feelings of the people, shall be punished with imprisonment for life.” For adding the sections to CrPC and IPC, the two amendments would have to be made. These include ‘The Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018 and the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018. The Cabinet gave its nod for the amendments. Office of Profit Bill After Punjab Governor V P Singh Badnore refused to give his assent to an ordinance allowing MLAs to hold office of profit, the state government is set to table the Bill on the issue in the next Assembly session. The Cabinet gave its nod to Punjab State Legislature (Prevention of Disqualification) (Amendment) Bill, 2018. A government statement said the bill would enable MLAs to hold several new categories of ‘Office of Profit.’ With the amendments proposed in the Bill, various categories of office of profit will be added to the current list of positions/offices which MLAs can hold without inviting disqualification. The amendments include incorporation of a new Section 1A to provide for the definitions of “compensatory allowance”, “statutory body” and “non-statutory body”. As per Section 1(A), “compensatory allowance” would mean any sum of money payable to the holder of an office by way of daily allowance, any conveyance allowance, house-rent allowance or travelling allowance for the purpose of enabling him to recoup any expenditure incurred by him in performing the functions of that office, said a government statement. Insertions and additions have also been made to the categories of offices of profit under Section 2 of the said Act under the Bill. The Section 2 of the Act includes any office held by a minister (including the Chief Minister), minister of state or deputy minister, office of chairman, vice chairman, deputy chairman, state planning board, office of (each leader and each deputy leader) a recognised party and a recognised group in the Vidhan Sabha, office of chief whip, deputy chief whip or whip in the Assembly. The Bill amends Section 2 to include the office of chairman or member of a committee, set up temporarily for the purpose of advising the government or any authority on a matter of public importance or for making an inquiry if the holder of such office is not entitled to any remuneration other than compensatory allowance. This also includes the office of chairman, director or member of any statutory or non-statutory body, if the holder of such office is not entitled to any remuneration other than compensatory allowance. With the Act, the MLAs would be allowed to hold offices of chairpersons of various boards and corporations. Quota for SC employees in promotions The Cabinet also gave its nod to tabling of a Bill in the Vidhan Sabha for ensuring restoration of 14 per cent reservation in Group A and B and 20 per cent reservation in Group C and D to the members of Scheduled Castes in promotions. The enactment of the legislation would pave the way for implementation of the benefit of reservation in promotion as provided in Article 16(4)(A) of the Constitution with effect from February 20, 2018. In another move, the Cabinet approved the constitution of Punjab State Higher Education Council by bringing a Bill in the Vidhan Sabha. The Council to be headed by the Chief Minister Amarinder Singh will have the Higher Education Minister as its Vice-Chairman and Administrative Secretary, Higher Education as Member Secretary. Start your day the best way with the Express Morning Briefing For all the latest Chandigarh News, download Indian Express App

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