The Supreme Court on Friday invited khap panchayats to put out their views before passing any order on the issue of these panchayats harassing couples in the name of caste and gotra. The court also said that as a pilot project, it would examine the situation in three districts – Rohtak, Jind and Baghpat – where khap panchayats are highly active.
A bench of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai said that before passing any order, it would like to hear the views of Khap Panchayats. The bench said that they can come before the court on the next date of hearing which is 14 January.
The court, which was hearing the petition of NGO Shakti Vahini asked it to inform various khap elders to come before it to express their views. It has said that in spite of spurt in such killings in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Haryana, the central and the state governments were not taking steps because of vote-bank politics.
During the hearing, the central government asked the court to put in place a mechanism to monitor crime against women by khap panchayats. ‘We would be more satisfied if we get views from the khaps. At the moment we are hearing views which are hostile to them,’ the bench said adding ‘We do not want to fall into the act of giving a dog a bad name and hang it.’
A bench of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai said that before passing any order, it would like to hear the views of Khap Panchayats. The bench said that they can come before the court on the next date of hearing which is 14 January.
The court, which was hearing the petition of NGO Shakti Vahini asked it to inform various khap elders to come before it to express their views. It has said that in spite of spurt in such killings in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Haryana, the central and the state governments were not taking steps because of vote-bank politics.
During the hearing, the central government asked the court to put in place a mechanism to monitor crime against women by khap panchayats. ‘We would be more satisfied if we get views from the khaps. At the moment we are hearing views which are hostile to them,’ the bench said adding ‘We do not want to fall into the act of giving a dog a bad name and hang it.’