In a landmark judgment, Supreme Court on Tuesday has ruled that intervention of Khap Panchayats in marriages will be illegal. It said that any attempt made by Khap Panchayat to scuttle marriage between two consenting adults is 'absolutely illegal'.
Supreme Court on Tuesday disposed off the petition filed by NGO, Shakti Vahini against khap panchayats & seeking directions to Centre and state governments for preventing honour killings. Supreme Court bench lead by CJI Misra has laid down remedial, preventive and punitive measures against interference of Khap Panchayats into marriages. It said rules will hold till a legislation is in place.
Khaps are caste or community groups, present largely in rural areas of north India, which at times act as quasi- judicial bodies and pronounce harsh punishments based on age- old customs. The court had earlier pulled up the Centre for not taking the matter seriously and not filing its suggestions on the issue, saying that such panchayats or bodies could threaten adult women and men seeking to get married. The apex court had also sought suggestions from the petitioner, Shakti Vahini, the amicus curiae and khap panchayats on the issue. Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, assisting the court as an amicus curiae, had filed his suggestions and the Centre had sought time to submit its proposals.
Earlier, the court had invited khap panchayats to hear their views before issuing an order to stop them from harassing or killing couples purportedly to protect the honour of a family, caste, community or faith. The Centre had pleaded with the apex court to put in place a mechanism to monitor crimes against women by khap panchayats, saying that the police was not able to protect such women. The top court had also said that as a pilot project, it would examine the situation in three districts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh where khap panchayats were active.Several cases of women and men falling victim to khap diktats have been reported over the years, particularly in states such as Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
In 2007, a Haryana court had awarded death to five people and sentenced one person to life for killing a couple on the orders of a self-styled khap panchayat for marrying against societal norms.In April, 2015, the khap of Notara Bhopat village ordered a woman from Rajasthan to live with a man whose wife had eloped with her husband. In 2014, a community panchayat in Uttar Pradesh banned girls from wearing jeans and keeping mobile phones, claiming that these had a "bad" effect on them and were responsible for sexual harassment incidents.
With PTI inputs
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