The troubled Jodhpur detenues are all set to get much-needed relief with Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh deciding to hand over cheques of the state’s share of Rs 4.5 crore compensation to them on Thursday.
The Chief Minister will hand over the cheques to the detainees at Punjab Bhawan in the presence of all members of his cabinet.
The Government has decided to go ahead with the disbursement of its share of the compensation, awarded by the Amritsar District Court, after the Central Government communicated to the State its decision to contribute its share of the compensation.
Capt Amarinder had recently written to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, and also personally spoken to the Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba in the absence of the former, to seek urgent resolution of the matter in order to provide the much-needed respite to the detainees.
He had also made it clear that if the Centre fails to come forward with its share of the compensation, the state government will take over its liability too.
The Chief Minister had also met the detainees, who were arrested and detained in the Jodhpur prison following ‘Operation Blue Star’ in June 1984, and had assured them of his government’s full support in the matter.
The detainees had been suffering for the past several years for no fault of theirs, the Chief Minister had felt, while pointing out that the Centre’s decision to go in for an appeal had evoked a strong reaction amongst the Sikh community and was further likely to lead to an avoidable sense of alienation and perceived injustice among the community.
Going into the background of the matter, around 300 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 from the court in 2011.
However, 40 of the detainees went in appeal to Amritsar District and Sessions Court and were awarded Rs four lakh each as compensation with six percent 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 rupees approximately, the Chief Minister pointed out.
The Court had held the Union and the State Governments as jointly liable for payment of the compensation, and although the Punjab government had given an undertaking to the court to pay half the amount, the Union Government had moved an appeal in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the order.