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34 years on, compensation for Blue Star detainees
Why it is in news?
- The detainees who were arrested and kept in a Jodhpur prison following the Army operation to flush out militants from the Golden Temple in 1984 will finally get some relief with Punjab
- The Chief Minister will distribute cheques totalling ₹4.5 crore to 40 of the detainees
300 people arrested
- Around 300 people were arrested and detained in the Jodhpur jail in June 1984 in the wake of Operation Blue Star, and were later released in three batches, between March 1989 and July 1991.
- Of these, 224 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 them went in appeal to the District and Sessions Court, Amritsar, and were awarded ₹4 lakh each as compensation with 6% interest (from the date of filing of the appeal to payment of compensation) in April last year.
Appeal by Centre
- The court had held the Union and the State governments 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 Centre had moved an appeal in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the order.
Strong reaction
- The detainees had been suffering for the past several years for no fault of theirs while pointing out that the Centre’s decision to go in appeal against the compensation award had evoked a strong reaction among the Sikh community and was further likely to lead to a sense of alienation and perceived injustice among the community.
Source
The Hindu