Frame guidelines to rein in khap panchayats: HC to state Bombay High Court takes serious view of social boycott of members from Kunbi community for contesting local body polls without consent of their jat panchayat Vijay Chavan in Pune mirrorfeedback@timesgroup TWEETS @_ MumbaiMirror The Bombay High Court has directed the state government to frame guidelines to curb the menace of social boycott.It has also sought to know whether the governmentisreadyingadraftlawtopreventincidents of excommunication. A division bench of Justices S C DharmadhikariandSBShukretookaseriousnoteoftheissue whilehearingapetitionfiledbyfourmembersof the Kunbi community from Harihareshwar,Raigad district.They are facing social boycott for contesting the local body elections without the consent of their jat (khap) panchayat. Advocate General Darius Khambata represented the State in this matter,human rights activist Asim Sarode represented the petitioner,Sandeep Krishna Jadhav. Underlining the fact that offenders go scot free in the absence of stringent law,Sarode said,We have requested the HC to apply section 153AoftheIPC(Promotingenmitybetweendifferent groups on grounds of religion,race,place ofbirth,residence,languageetc)andMCOCAto prevent such cases. Victims of excommunication must have theprotectionoflaw.Manypeoplefaceinjustice asthereisnolawtodealwithsuchcases.Itisdangerous in a democratic setup to run such parallel systems,which control society illegally, observed the division bench while seeking to find out if the state would take initiatives to end the scourge. The Jadhav family has been excommunicated since 2004.Earlier,the court had ordered the Raigad district superintendent of police to file a fresh first information report (FIR) against the offenders. The petitioner had referred to 16 similar cases,including the one from the Shree Gaud Brahman community from Pune. Explaining the difficulty in dealing with such offences,Sarode said,We gave examples of 16 cases across the state from different regions and communities.There is no law to check such incidents and in many cases the Excommunication Act -1962 is executed,which has not beenmadeintoalawbutremainedabill.Theenforcement authorities failed to tackle such cases due to the absence of a particular law against ostracisation. Social boycotts restrict personal liberty of victims.As per the courts earlier directions,nobody should socially boycott others.And if somebody is doing that,the victims must have the protection of law.The court suggested the state could tackle the menace within the existing legal framework and that the police personnel be sensitised in this regard, Sarode added. SIMILAR CASES HEARD BY THE HC Former corporator Kaka Dharmavat,Jitendra Sharma and Jagdish Unecha,all residents of Pune,belonging to the Shri Gaur Brahmin community,face excommunication after a member from each of their families is married into a different caste. None of them is allowed to attend any community programme or gathering by the community leaders in the city.Dharmavats niece has married a Maharashtrian Brahmin while Sharmas differently abled brother,after a number of rejections,married a girl from another caste.Haresh Pardhi and Sahadeo Padwal,residents of Dhamandevi village in Chiplun taluka,belong to the Bhoi community.Both men married outside their caste 18 years ago.They have been considered outcasts since then,even by their families.No one from their community in the village speaks with their children. Members of the Kunbi community with court officials
Posted on: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 04:22:20 +0000
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