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Punjab MLAs passed anti-sacrilege law without reading it. It’s a democratic failing

The most disturbing revelation at Sri Akal Takht Sahib was not the debate over Punjab’s proposed sacrilege law. It was the admission that legislators had supported a Bill they had not read.

One of the most familiar rituals in Indian households was asking a parent to sign a school diary or consent form, which was often delivered without even skimming the pages. We are similarly casual with employment contracts and insurance policies. It is perhaps this larger social habit that explains the unsettling revelation last week: Punjab MLAs had passed the state’s new anti-sacrilege law without fully reading it.

On 29 June, Sikh legislators across parties appeared before Sri Akal Takht Sahib over the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the Takht had objected to both the lack of consultation and parts of the law itself. These issues are significant and deserve careful public debate. But what was most concerning was that several lawmakers acknowledged they had not gone through the text of the Bill before supporting it.

The episode followed the usual pattern of wrangling between the government and the Opposition. But the legislators’ admissions raised a deeper constitutional question—one that was largely lost amid the political exchanges.

Also Read: Akal Takht gives Punjab govt 1 month-ultimatum to change anti-sacrilege law after unprecedented hearing

The duty behind the vote

What does representative democracy expect of a legislator?

Legislatures are not created merely to record numerical majorities. They exist to deliberate. Every Bill introduced before an Assembly is expected to be examined, questioned and debated before it becomes law. Members may vote according to party discipline, but this cannot replace personal understanding.

Reading proposed legislation is not an additional responsibility or a mark of exceptional diligence, but the minimum constitutional threshold for exercising legislative authority.

In this case, the MLAs’ admission becomes even more significant when viewed in the context from which the legislation emerged.

What happened in the Akal Takht hearing

Punjab has spent nearly a decade seeking justice in the sacrilege cases that transformed the state’s politics. The 2015 Guru Granth Sahib desecration at Bargari and related incidents, followed by police firing on protesters at Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura, profoundly damaged public trust in political institutions.

The Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government defended its actions, the Congress sought power........

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