Explanation:

Punjab Cabinet recently made Blasphemy Bill to make acts of “sacrilege against the religious books” punishable with life imprisonment.The Punjab assembly had passed a bill in 2016 for protecting the “Guru Granth Sahib” (holy book of the Sikhs) against sacrilege acts.The Centre had then returned the Bills, saying that protecting the holy book of only one religion would make it discriminatory and anti-secular.Notably, prior permission of the Central or State government is needed to prosecute someone under such sections.
Hence, currently, the same bill has been cleared with slight amendments to cover other religious books like the “Bible, Koran and Bhagvad Gita”.The bill, if passed, will strengthen the existing ‘blasphemy law’ which criminalises acts that outrage religious feeling.This move is regressive, excessive, and fraught with undesirable consequences.