New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday called attacks on adult couples or any associations against them by Khap panchayats as “absolutely illegal”.
“Adults can get into marriages of their choice and no panchayat, khap, individual, society can question them,” the SC said.
A CJI Dipak Misra-led bench said that khap or panchayat can not summon couple, who opted for inter-caste marriages nor can they lay cruelty against them.
The bench further said if the Centre does not enact a law to protect such couples, the court will come up with a principle with guidelines.
The Supreme Court is hearing a petition filed by an NGO, Shakti Vahini, asking the legal validity of honour killing that khap panchayats pass in Haryana and western UP.