Karnataka HighCourt tells Army- Don't behave like a khap panchayat

Karnataka HighCourt tells Army- Don't behave like a khap panchayat

BANGALORE, KARNATAKA, INDIA: A bench headed by Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen of the Karnataka high court on Tuesday compared the Army to a khap panchayat for blocking a young officer's bid to marry a 29-year-old Sri Lankan woman he's in love with.

Major Vikas Kumar's (Indian Army) dreams of marrying the Bangalore-based 29-year old Sri Lankan student hit a roadblock with the Army ordering an investigation into "the purpose behind him coming in contact with a foreign national". In response to his plea to quit since service rules bar officers from marrying foreigners, his commanders refused to relieve him, citing a severe staff crunch. The signals corps officer then went to court.

A division bench presided over by Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen Tuesday reserved judgment on an appeal filed by the Union government challenging an order of a single judge bench which had ruled in Maj. Kumar's favor.

Displeased with the arguments of the government counsel, Justice Vikramajit Sen observed: "This is not a khap panchayat, this is the Army." He also said, "We can't understand the Army's stand at all. This is most unfortunate for the man. One of India's Presidents, also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, was married to a foreigner." (A reference to K R Narayanan who was married to Ma Tint Tint of Myanmarese origin).

Maj Kumar won round one of the legal battle this June. A single judge of the high court ruled in his favour saying, "The Army can't refuse his request for release from the services since he wants to marry a foreign national." The Union government challenged the order in the division bench.

The government counsel argued, "We have ordered an investigation to find out under what circumstances and for what purpose he has come in contact with a foreign national. Also, his regiment is severely short-staffed, so we cannot relieve him."

Maj. Kumar's advocate told the court he filed his second petition after the single judge's order had been pending with the Army for about four months. "As per the rules, you were expected to decide the application within 120 days either saying Yes or No. Such an inquiry ordered by you is an unknown law," said Justice Sen.

Reference By: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Khap panchayats of Haryana demand legal ban on Same-Gotra and Same Village Marriages

ROHTAK, HARYANA, INDIA: The khap panchayats of Haryana on Sunday demanded a legal ban on same-gotra and same-village marriages, saying such a measure could solve the problem of rising crime against women.

Leaders of 30 khap panchayats who met in Rohtak passed a resolution calling for an amendment in the Hindu Marriage Act to bring the ban on such marriages into effect.

The leaders vowed to take up this demand at the highest level and said they would visit Delhi next month for submitting their representations to the President, Prime Minister and the Union law minister.

The meeting, held at the Chhotu Ram Dharamshala, was hosted by Rohtak's Chorasi khap and presided over by its leader, Mr. Hardeep Ahlawat.

Terming modern culture as "obscene", the leaders said the state's social fabric had been vitiated because people were "blindly following so-called modernization which is the root cause of crime against women and incidents of rape".

"The minds of the younger generation have been corrupted due to invasion of obscene and vulgar culture. Our youngsters have forgotten the rich values and customs of our society," said Mr. Baljit Malik of Gathwala khap in Haryana.

Addressing the meeting, Hardeep Ahlawat demanded a change in the law to ban matrimonial ties between couples from same gotras and same villages — traditionally viewed as brothers and sisters.

"A legal ban on such marriages would also help curb the menace of honour killings and female feticide which has brought a bad name to Haryanvi society," said Om Prakash Dhankar, a khap leader.

Other leaders argued that there would not be any honour killings or female foeticide if same-gotra marriages were banned. "People kill their daughters out of the fear that one day they might elope with men of the same gotra," said Dhankar.

"A delegation of khap panchayat would visit Delhi on November 5 with copies of our memorandum to be handed over to India's top leaders. We would also call on the national commission for women the same day and asked it to raise the demand," he added.

The khap leaders distanced themselves from a recent statement of a khap mahapanchayat spokesman who had sought lowering of the marriageable age of girls from 18 to 16 years to avoid rapes. The leaders said such statements had been spoiling the image of khap panchayats.

"We strongly differ with such people. We have decided to launch social awareness campaign against extravagant marriages, dowry etc in society," he said.

The khap panchayats have also urged the Haryana government to ban wedding ceremonies at night which they said lead to road accidents. Khap leaders said most people get drunk while attending marriages at night and then drive, resulting in road accidents.

Reference By:  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/