SC on Khaps

The Supreme Court said it was an offence to order women not to use mobile phones or to dress in a particular manner and warned that no one can run a parallel matrimony court.
“Imposing a dress code on women and asking them not to use mobile phones, are such orders not socially retrograde? These are also against the law. How can anyone ask women not to carry a mobile phone,” a bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana P Desai asked while hearing a PIL that sought protection of young couples marrying inter-caste or within the same gotra from khaps. But the Sarv Khap Panchayat, a conglomerate of 67 khaps in Haryana’s Rohtak district, told the court that family members of girls and boys marrying outside their caste or within same gotra were behind the lynchings and regulating khaps would not reduce honour killings.
“Such incidents happen only in the peace-loving and law-abiding people of the village, not in mischievous families,” the panchayat said.
The bench questioned cops. The police said khaps sometimes adopt socially retrograde resolutions but there was no instance of khap members’ hand in honour killings. They, too, blamed families.
The bench wondered why the UP and Haryana cops were “so anxious to give a good conduct certificate” to the khaps. The additional advocates general sought time to file a proper affidavit on behalf of police.
When additional solicitor general Indira Jaising said “the Sarv Khap Panchayat of district Rohatak admitted it adjudicates all matters relating to marriage and family”, the bench said, “That means they are running parallel courts.” It asked the khaps to file their written submissions not exceeding 10 pages by February 18 and posted the matter for detailed hearing on March 5.