If Centre doesn't, Punjab will pay compensation to Jodhpur detenues: Punjab CM
Chandigarh, June 26: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday announced that his government will pay full compensation amount of Rs 4.5 crore to the Jodhpur detenues if the Centre fails to give its share.
The Chief Minister made this clear after a telephonic conversation with Union Home Secretary RajIv Gauba, whom he had called up to urge for early resolution of the matter in view of the prolonged suffering of the detainees.
Expressing hope that the Centre would be forthcoming with its 50 per cent share of the compensation awarded by the court to the detenues, the Chief Minister said if the Central government fails to pay its share, then the Punjab government would take over the entire liability and ensure that the detenues get the much-delayed justice.
"The Centre should immediately withdraw its appeal in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the compensation," Amarinder said.
The Chief Minister, who met the deteneus here on Saturday, told them that the state government was pursuing the matter with the Central government, which had moved the high court against the compensation awarded by the District and Sessions Court of Amritsar in April last year.
The deteneus were arrested and detained in the Jodhpur prison following Operation Blue Star in June 1984. Some of them languished there for years. Amarinder Singh said that he had already written to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in this regard
He appealed to the Central government to pay, without further delay, half the compensation amount of Rs 4.5 crore that was awarded by the Amritsar court.
In his communication to Rajnath Singh, the Chief Minister had said the Central government's appeal against the compensation, which the court had held to be jointly payable by the union and state governments, had evoked a strong reaction among the Sikh community.
A total of 375 persons were arrested and detained in Jodhpur jail in the wake of Operation Blue Star and were later released in three batches, between March 1989 and July 1991.
Of these, 224 detainees had appealed for compensation in the lower court, alleging "wrongful detention and torture" but they failed to get any relief in 2011.
However, 40 of the detainees went in appeal to the District and Sessions Court, Amritsar, and were awarded Rs 4 lakh each as compensation with 6 per cent interest (from the date of filing of the appeal to payment of compensation) in April last year.
The total compensation, including interest, worked out to Rs. 4.5 crore approximately, the Chief Minister pointed out.
While the Punjab government had given an undertaking to the court to pay half the amount, the Union government had moved an appeal in the high court against the order.
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Karnataka Governor gives assent to legislation against ‘honour killing’ in inter-caste marriages
Bengaluru: The government has brought into force the Karnataka Freedom of Choice in Marriage and Prevention and Prohibition of Crimes in the name of honour and tradition (Eva Nammava Eva Nammava) Act, 2026, intended to restrict ‘honour killings’ in inter-caste marriages.
According to The Indian Express, the legislation received assent from Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot on April 9 and was officially notified in the state gazette on April 10. The law had been passed unanimously by the state legislature last month.
The Bill was proposed by the Congress government in the wake of caste-linked ‘honour killings’ in the state, including the December 21, 2025, murder near Hubli of a 20-year-old Lingayat woman by her father for marrying a man from another caste.
The phrase ‘Eva Nammava Eva Nammava’ in the title is in reference to the message of universal humanity that the Lingayat saint Basavanna espoused. Basavanna, who rebelled against the caste system to lay the foundation of the Lingayat faith system, an amalgamation of all castes, used the words meaning ‘he is a part of me’ to say all people are one.
Under the new law, crimes committed in the name of ‘honour’, including murder, assault, threats, and social boycott, are specifically addressed with stringent punishments. ‘Honour killing’ offences carry a minimum imprisonment of five years, while serious assaults attract at least three years in jail.
The new law defines the social boycott of inter-caste couples as forcible eviction to remote corners of villages, refusal to provide services, refusal to provide work, refusal to conduct business, denial of loans and admissions to schools, and makes it punishable.
In the case of ‘honour killings’ per se, the new law prescribes a minimum imprisonment of five years, and in the case of assaults, a prison term that is not less than three years for serious injury and two years for minor injuries.
The offences under the proposed law are cognisable and non-bailable, which means police can carry out arrests without court permissions after taking up a case.
The legislation follows several reported inter-caste relationship-related killings in Karnataka in 2025, including cases in Raichur and another involving 18-year-old Kavita.
The law to protect the freedom of choice in marriages is among several social bills that the Congress government has brought out in line with its policies for the backward and downtrodden communities in the state.
