Terming the decrees of “khap panchayats” in North India and of “katta panchayats” in the South on “honour killings” as barbaric and heinous crimes against young people who want to lead their lives according to their free will, the Supreme Court, in an unprecedented order on Tuesday, directed all state governments to make the district magistrates and district police chiefs accused in such cases if they fail to do their duty.
“If such incidents happen, apart from instituting criminal proceedings against those responsible for such atrocities, the state governments are directed to immediately suspend the district magistrates/collectors and SSPs/SPs of the district, as well as other officials concerned, and chargesheet them and proceed against them departmentally if they do not prevent the incident if it has not already occurred but they have knowledge of it in advance, or if it has already occurred, they do not promptly apprehend the culprits,” a bench of Justices Markanedy Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra said in a verdict on a honour killing case in Tamil Nadu.
“We have in recent years heard of khap panchayats (known as katta panchayats in Tamil Nadu) which often decree or encourage honour killings, or other atrocities in an institutionalised way on boys and girls of different castes and religions who wish to get married or have been married, or interfere with the personal lives of people,” the bench said, directing the court registry to communicate the verdict to the chief secretaries and home secretaries of all states and Union territories for immediate followup action.
The state governments were further directed to circulate this verdict to all district magistrates and district police chiefs for prompt compliance.
The court said the illegal decrees of khap panchayats needed to be “ruthlessly stamped out” as “there is nothing honourable in honour killings or other atrocities against young people... In fact, it is nothing but barbaric and shameful murder committed by feudal-minded persons.”
Justifying tough measures against perpetrators of such crimes as well as against officials responsible for enforcing the rule of law and protecting citizens, the bench said: “Only this way can we stamp out such acts of barbarism.”
Reminding the states that the nation was governed under a Constitution, under which a series of laws had been framed to deal with different kinds of crimes, the court said the khap or katta panchayats could not be allowed to function as “kangaroo courts” and pass such illegal orders.
The verdict came on appeals by Arumugam Servai and Ajit Kumar relating to insulting one Paneerselavam in the name of his caste. The court upheld their conviction by the trial court as well as the Madras high court.
“We would like to mention the highly objectionable two-tumbler system prevalent in many parts of Tamil Nadu,” the bench said, noting that it forced people of so-called “backward” castes to be served separately in teashops and eateries.
“In our opinion, this is highly objectionable and is an offence under the SC/ST Act, hence those practising it must be criminally proceeded against and given harsh punishment, while all administrative and police officers must be made accountable,” the court held.