Stamp out khap panchayats: court
J. Venkatesan
Casteism is one of the main causes holding up the country's progress
While deprecating the caste system in the country, the Supreme Court
has declared illegal 'khap panchayats' which often decree or encourage
honour killings or other institutionalised atrocities against boys and
girls of different castes and religions who wish to get married or
have married.
"This is wholly illegal and has to be ruthlessly stamped out. There is
nothing honourable in honour killing or other atrocities and, in fact,
it is nothing but barbaric and shameful murder. Other atrocities in
respect of the personal lives of people committed by brutal,
feudal-minded persons deserve harsh punishment. Only this way can we
stamp out such acts of barbarism and feudal mentality. Moreover, these
acts take the law into their own hands, and amount to kangaroo courts,
which are wholly illegal," a Bench of Justices Markandey Katju and
Gyan Sudha Misra said on Tuesday.
Sentence upheld
The Bench upheld the sentence of two-year imprisonment, including six
months' imprisonment under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,
1989, awarded by a trial court to Arumugam Servai, who called a member
of a Scheduled Caste community by his caste name, 'Pallan'. It
dismissed his appeal against a Madras High Court judgment.
Writing the judgment, Justice Katju said: "The word 'Pallan' no doubt
denotes a specific caste, but it is also a word used in a derogatory
sense to insult someone. Even calling a person 'Pallan,' if used with
intent to insult a member of the Scheduled Caste, is, in our opinion
an offence under the SC/ST PoA Act."
Jefferson's ringing words
The court quoted Thomas Jefferson in the American Declaration of
Independence, 1776 saying "We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator
by certain inalienable rights that among these are life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness."
The Bench said: "Over two centuries have passed since Thomas Jefferson
wrote those memorable words, which are still ringing in history, but a
large section of Indian society still regards a section of its own
countrymen as inferior. This mental attitude is simply unacceptable in
the modern age, and it is one of the main causes holding up the
country's progress."
Two-tumbler system
The Bench also expressed its anguish over the two-tumbler system
prevalent in many parts of Tamil Nadu. "This system is that in many
tea shops and restaurants there are separate tumblers for serving tea
or other drinks to Scheduled Caste persons and non-Scheduled Caste
persons. In our opinion, this is highly objectionable, and is an
offence under the SC/ST Act, and hence those practising it must be
criminally proceeded against and given harsh punishment if found
guilty. All administrative and police officers will be accountable and
departmentally proceeded against if, despite having knowledge of any
such practice in the area under their jurisdiction, they do not launch
criminal proceedings against the culprits."
Condemning honour killings and khap panchayats, the Bench directed the
administrative and police officials to take strong measures to prevent
such atrocious acts. "If any such incidents happen, apart from
instituting criminal proceedings against those responsible for such
atrocities, the State government concerned is directed to immediately
suspend the District Magistrate/Collector and the SSP/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 occurred, they do not promptly apprehend the
culprits and others involved and institute criminal proceedings
against them, as, in our opinion, they will be deemed directly or
indirectly accountable in this connection."
The Bench directed that a copy of this judgment be sent to all Chief
Secretaries, Home Secretaries and Directors-General of Police in all
States and Union Territories, and circulated to all officers up to the
level of District Magistrates and SSP/SP for strict compliance. A copy
would also be sent to the Registrars-General/Registrars of all High
Courts who would circulate it to all judges.
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