Overview
- On January 28, the Rajasthan Assembly was informed that Governor Haribhau Bagade had returned The Rajasthan Prohibition of Interference with the Freedom of Matrimonial Alliances in the Name of Honour and Tradition Bill, 2019.
- The Bhajan Lal Sharma government argued the proposal relied on repealed IPC and CrPC sections and that Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 on murder provides adequate penalties.
- The 2019 measure targeted organised pressure against Sagotra, inter-caste, inter-community and inter-religious marriages, making related offences cognisable, non-bailable and non-compoundable.
- Penalties ranged from prison terms and fines to life imprisonment or death for killings, with preventive powers for district officials and an expanded definition of assemblies that included online coordination.
- The Governor has now sent back 10 bills for reconsideration, nine passed under the Gehlot government, as Karnataka drafts a comparable law and Tamil Nadu studies measures against honour killings.