It was in the month of January that the same bench had called any attack made by the khap associations or panchayats against an adult man and woman going for an inter-caste marriage as “absolutely illegal”.
Coming down heavily on the Khap panchayat community, the Supreme Court today ruled that any community or assembly trying to interject between a marriage of two adults who have mutually consented to get wedded would be deemed as illegal.
The top court dismissed a plea filed by the Khap panchayats through Shakti Vahini, an NGO saying: “any illegal assembly ‘khap’ cannot prevent the marriage between two consenting adults.” As a matter of fact, the court also sought directions from the state governments and the Centre to avert honour killings.
A bench headed by the Dipak Misra, Chief Justice of India and that comprised of Justice D Y Chandrachud and A M Khanwilkar has also put forth some disciplinary and corrective measures to adhere until a law is brought in action.
It was in the month of January that the same bench had called any attack made by the khap associations or panchayats against an adult man and woman going for an inter-caste marriage as “absolutely illegal”. It had stated that if an adult man and woman decided to get married, no panchayat, no khap, society or an individual can question them.
The NGO had moved the Supreme Court in the year 2010 and sought directions to the state and the central governments to avert and control honour killings by taking numerous corrective measures. Some time ago, the apex court had made an invitation to the khap panchayats to hear their standpoints before passing any order to stop them from killing couples or harassing them and the women in the name of ‘honour’.
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