Khap panchayats

Story hook

It is May 2007 in Karoran village, Karnal district, Haryana. A young couple — Manoj Banwala (23) and Babli (19) — have just been married under the Hindu Marriage Act 1955. The problem: both are Banwala Jats from the same gotra (patrilineal clan). The village Khap panchayat ruled the marriage was equivalent to incest under their interpretation of Hindu Sapinda relations. The panchayat ordered the marriage annulled. The couple refused, sought police protection.

On 15 June 2007, Babli's brother, uncle + relatives abducted the couple from a Haryana Roadways bus, drove them to a remote spot, forced them to drink pesticide, strangled them + dumped the bodies in a canal. The Supreme Court would later call it "the rarest of the rare" in Bhagwan Dass v. State (NCT of Delhi) 2011. Five relatives got death sentences (commuted by P&H HC), the Khap leader got life.

The Manoj-Babli case became the legal flash point that forced the Indian state to confront a paradox: Khap panchayats — extra-constitutional caste councils in north India — were openly ordering honour killings of couples who defied caste, gotra, or religious boundaries. Article 21 (right to life) was meeting caste endogamy + patriarchy in a brutal collision.

In 2018, in Shakti Vahini v. Union of India, the Supreme Court issued 23 directives to police, magistrates + state governments to prevent + punish honour crimes. Yet NCRB 2022 records 18 honour killings that year — almost certainly massive under-reporting. This file explores why.

Why this matters for UPSC

This is a frequently-asked Mains GS-I topic (asked 2018: "Caste-based violence is a serious concern in India today"; 2019: "What are the continued challenges for women in India?"; 2021: "Trace the rise of nationalism in India.") and an Interview favourite ("What's your view on Khap panchayats?", "How would you handle an honour killing in your district?").

Inter-caste/inter-faith marriages are constitutional rights under Article 21 (life + liberty), Article 25 (religious freedom), upheld in Lata Singh v. State of UP 2006, Shakti Vahini 2018, Hadiya / Shafin Jahan 2018, Salamat Ansari 2020. Yet anti-conversion laws (Love Jihad laws — UP 2020, MP 2021, Karnataka 2021, Haryana 2022, etc.) have created a new chilling layer.