Consensus eludes GoM, honour killing law will have to wait

NEW DELHI: The group of ministers constituted to work out a legal counter to honour killings has not been able to frame a law.

The government had said that a bill that would address honour killings would be introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament.

With a solution eluding the group, the proposed legislation may now be ready only for the winter session.

The GoM is of the view that amending provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Indian Evidence Act do not provide a legal remedy to the problem of honour killing. It is also of the view that a separate statute is not viable, as “honour killings” predominantly take place in Haryana and bordering areas of Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

The view in the group is that it is impractical to have a separate statute for one state and some other areas as it would mean setting up a distinct outfit to enforce it.

Sources said the focus within the GoM is now to address the social issue. “A way has to be found to address the social ostracisation and blockade that the victims face prior to the killings,” a member said.

The complexity of the problem was evident when Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda told the GoM that that there was no relation between honour killings and khap or caste panchayats.

Mr Hooda had been invited to give his inputs to the GoM, which met for a second time on Wednesday. The Haryana chief minister said that khap panchayats are social organisations that have not known to have ordered the killing of anybody in the name of honour. He stressed that meetings of these panchayats were informal affairs, with no written notes or record being maintained of the proceedings.

The Cabinet had on July 8 turned down the proposal to amend the Indian Penal Code with the idea of bringing honour killings under the definition of murder. The GoM was constituted to find a legal redress for honour killings, as the existing provisions of the law was not sufficient.

The amendments that had been placed before the Cabinet by the home ministry aimed at bringing honour killings under the definition of murder by amending the Indian Penal Code. The proposal also sought to amend the Indian Evidence Act which would bring the onus on khap panchayats to prove their innocence in any such case.

The khap panchayat or any group ordering honour killings and any person who carries out the diktat will be jointly liable for punishment under the proposed legislation. It was felt that these amendments do not address the issue of honour killings at the ground level.