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Amarinder asks Centre for withdrawal of appeal against compensation for 1984 Jodhpur detainees

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday urged the Central government to withdraw its appeal in the Punjab and Haryana…

Amarinder asks Centre for withdrawal of appeal against compensation for 1984 Jodhpur detainees

Amarinder Singh Punjab CM (Photo: SNS)

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday urged the Central government to withdraw its appeal in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the award of compensation to those arrested and detained in the Jodhpur prison following ‘Operation Blue Star’ in June 1984.

Amarinder Singh has appealed to the central government to pay, without further delay, half the compensation amount of Rs 4.5 crore that was awarded by the District and Sessions Court of Amritsar in April 2017.

In a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, the CM said the central government’s appeal against the compensation had evoked a strong reaction amongst the Sikh community. It was further likely to lead to an avoidable sense of alienation and perceived injustice among the community, the CM warned.

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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 from the court in 2011.

However, 40 of the detainees went in appeal to the District and Sessions Court, Amritsar, and were awarded Rs Four Lakh each as compensation in 2017.

The total compensation, including interest, worked out to around Rs 4.5 Crore, the CM pointed out.

The court had held the Union and the state governments as jointly liable for payment of the compensation.

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, the CM further stated.

He sought immediate steps by the Union Home Minister to retract the appeal and contribute the 50 percent share which the central government had been held liable by the court to pay as compensation.

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