Jodhpur detenus: Punjab govt will pay full compensation, if Centre fails to give its share, says CM

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today said his government would pay the full compensation of Rs 4.5 crore to the Jodhpur detenus if the Centre fails to give its share.

The chief minister announced this after a telephonic conversation with Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, according to an official release.

He had called Gauba to urge for early resolution of the matter in view of the "prolonged suffering" of the detainees, who were arrested and detained in the Jodhpur prison following Operation Bluestar in June 1984, it said.

Expressing hope that the Centre would be forthcoming with its 50 per cent share of the compensation awarded by a court to the detenus, Singh said if, for any reason, the Centre fails to pay its share then the state government would take over the entire liability and ensure that detainees get justice.

In the absence of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who is overseas, the chief minister decided to take up the issue with the home secretary, and demanded immediate steps by the Centre to release the compensation awarded by the Amritsar district court, the release said.

These detainees had been suffering for the past several years for no fault of theirs, Singh said, calling for a standardised policy to deal with such cases.

The Centre should immediately withdraw its appeal in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the compensation, the chief minister said.

He asserted that if the central government fails to come to the rescue of the detenus, then the Punjab government would pay the full amount of the compensation.

Singh last week had written a letter to the Union Home minister, pointing out that the central government's appeal against the compensation, which the court had held to be jointly payable by the Centre and the state government, had evoked strong reaction from the Sikh community.

"It was further likely to lead to an avoidable sense of alienation and perceived injustice among the community," the chief minister warned.

Around 300 people were arrested and detained in the Jodhpur jail in the wake of Operation Bluestar, 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 for an appeal at the district and sessions court, Amritsar, and were awarded Rs 4 lakh each as compensation with six 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, the chief minister said.

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 of the amount, the Centre had moved an appeal in the high court against it.

The chief minister, who has been pursuing the Centre to retract its appeal and contribute its 50 per cent share towards compensation, was approached by a delegation of the detainees two days ago.

He had assured them of his government's all-out efforts to ensure justice.