Moily to push for law in July session

Jun 23, 2010 - Age Correspondent |

New Delhi

Following the rapid rise in honour killings and Supreme Court taking cognisance, the Union law and justice ministry has swung into action to bring a legislation in this regard in the Monsoon Session starting mid-July.

Speaking to this paper, law and justice minister Dr M. Veerappa Moily stated that the government will crackdown on such killings and make provisions for the prosecution of entire khap (community) panchayats if they indulge in such unlawful activity. “We have already fast-paced the enactment of this law which we hope to present before the Parliament in the forthcoming session,” Dr Moily stated. The law minister stated that the bill envisages amendments to several related acts, including the Evidence Act and the onus would be on the accused to prove their innocence. This paper had first reported on January 19 that the government was attempting to crackdown on the growing instances of so-called “honour killings” in the country by bringing in a stringent law.
Dr Moily stated that the law recommended booking of the caste or community panchayats or persons who aid and abet such killings. “These persons would be treated as accomplices in the murder,” he added. A demand for enactment of a separate law on the social evil of “honour killing” has been made repeatedly by several quarters, with such cases being reported at regular intervals from various states of the country. However, the matter was taken up seriously only after the present home minister P. Chidambaram took up the issue. The home minister had written to Dr Moily asking for his ministry’s cooperation.

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