[[Image:Sreesanth.jpg |thumb |right |upright |[[Sreesanth]] (pictured), who was slapped by Harbhajan |alt=Young man wearing glasses and a white broad brimmed hat. He is wearing a black string necklace, blue T-shirt, and has a thin sideburn that links to a narrow beard, and a small thin moustache. He is wearing a light layer of white zinc cream on his face. A brick stand for spectators is in the background.]]
Harbhajan was involved in further controversy after ana [[2008 Indian Premier League]] (IPL) match between [[Mumbai Indians]] and [[Kings XI Punjab]] at [[Mohali]] in April 2008. While the teams were shaking hands, he slapped Kerala paceman and Indian teammate [[Sreesanth]] in the face.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bhajji slaps, Sree sobs |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080426/jsp/frontpage/story_9191426.jsp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080429221046/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080426/jsp/frontpage/story_9191426.jsp |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 April 2008 |newspaper=[[The Telegraph (Kolkata)|The Telegraph]] |date=24 April 2008 |access-date=25 April 2008 |location=Calcutta, India}}</ref> Harbhajan, who had stood in as the Mumbai captain for the first three matches of the tournament to that point, all of which were lost, had apparently been angered by Sreesanth's aggressive sending-off of his batsmen as Punjab coasted to a decisive victory. The Kings XI Punjab lodged an official complaint to the IPL. The match referee [[Farokh Engineer]] found Harbhajan guilty of a level 4.2 offence, banning him from the remainder of the IPL and preventing him from claiming his entire season's salary. Harbhajan made up with Sreesanth, and said that "I have been punished for the wrong I did".<ref>{{cite news |first=Subhash |last=Rajta |url=http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/29/stories/2008042952831800.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501160822/http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/29/stories/2008042952831800.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 May 2008 |title=Harbhajan banned from ongoing IPL |location=India |date=29 April 2008 |work=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=29 April 2008}}</ref> Harbhajan had taken five wickets at 16.40 at an economy rate of 8.20 and scored 30 runs at 15.00 in the three matches before his ban.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} On 14 May, the BCCI disciplinary committee found Harbhajan guilty under Rule 3.2.1 of their regulations and handed down the maximum punishment of five-match ban from ODIs. Harbhajan faces the prospect of a life ban if he commits significant disciplinary breaches in the future.<ref>{{cite news |first=Ajay S. |last=Shankar |access-date=28 May 2008 |date=14 May 2008 |work=ESPNcricinfo |url=http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/india/content/story/350990.html |title=BCCI bans Harbhajan for five ODIs |archive-date=7 July 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707202803/http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/india/content/story/350990.html |url-status=live }}</ref> As a result, Harbhajan missed the tri-series in Bangladesh and the [[2008 Asia Cup]] in Pakistan, and India went down in the final of both tournaments after qualifying first on both occasions. He would have been eligible for selection after the first two matches of the Asia Cup, but the selectors omitted him entirely.{{Cn|date=July 2024}}
In 2021, he tendered an unconditional apology for sharing a social media post with a picture of [[Khalistani]] militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale to pay homage to those who died in '[[Operation Blue Star]]' of 1984. Facing backlash from all quarters, Harbhajan said he posted a WhatsApp forward on the 37th anniversary of the operation without realizing that the man in the picture was [[Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale|Bhindranwale.]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Harbhajan Singh apologises for Instagram post on Bhindranwale |url=https://sixsports.in/harbhajan-singh-apologises-for-instagram-post-on-bhindranwale/ |access-date=9 June 2021 |website=Six Sports |archive-date=9 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609041747/https://sixsports.in/harbhajan-singh-apologises-for-instagram-post-on-bhindranwale/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
