NEW DELHI (TIP): The government has initiated the process of drafting a law against honour killings by treating crimes in the name of honour as a separate category of offences. The moves comes after 22 states, including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh (UT), supported the recommendations of the Law Commission of India to treat honour crimes as a standalone offence. Law Minister Sadananda Gowda said in Parliament today that the government would, after considering the comments from states, hold consultations on the enactment of the legislation against honour crimes. “After considering the responses of all states and UTs and consultations with stakeholders, the policy decision to enact the legislation on the subject will be taken. It would be difficult to fix a timeline but the department has initiated the process of implementation of the report of the Law Commission in this respect,” Gowda said.

The Law Commission had in its 242nd Report on “Prevention of Interference with the Freedom of Matrimonial Alliances in the Name of Honour and Tradition” recommended a strict law against honour crimes being perpetuated by community panchayats working by different names in different parts of the country. The proposal to bring the law was first initiated during Congress-led UPA-II which had formed a Group of Ministers to make recommendations. The GOM never presented its report and was disbanded once its chairman – Pranab Mukherjee – proceeded to become President. At that time, Haryana had opposed the move. The BJP government, after coming to power, circulated the proposal again and 22 states, including Haryana (which now has a BJP government), have supported the recommendations of the Law Commission.

Apart from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal and Chandigarh, the states that have backed the law are: Andhra, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and the UTs of Dadra and Nagar Haveli; Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep and Puducherry. The responses of the remaining states are awaited. Consensus of states on the law to curb honour crimes is critical because the subject falls in List III (Concurrent List) of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution and the Centre alone cannot legislate on it.