Manoj-Babli Case : Facts, Issues, Judgement & Analysis

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Petitioner:

  1. Gurdev Singh son of Rattan Singh resident of village Jakhauli,

Police Station Sadar Kaithal, District Kaithal.

  1. Suresh Kumar son of Sajjan Kumar, resident of a village

Karora, Police Station Rajond, District Kaithal.

  1. Rajinder Singh son of Nathu Ram, resident of the village

Karora,Police Station Rajond,District Katihal.

  1. Satish Kumar, son of Sube Singh resident of the village

Jakhauli, Police Station Sadar Kaithal, District Kaithal.

  1. Baru Ram son of Musadi Ram, resident of village Jakhauli, Police

Sadar Kaithal, District Kaithal.

Respondent: State of Haryana

Citation: Criminal Appeal No.479-DB of 2010 and

Criminal Revision No.2173 of 2010

Date of Judgement: March 11, 2011

Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Satish Kumar Mittal

Hon’ble Mr. Justice M. Jeyapaul

Facts

Honour Killing
Source: The Hindu

In June 2007, Babli’s relatives brutally murdered Manoj and Babli from Karora village in the Kaithal district. On the direction of a khap panchayat, the horrific act was carried out for marrying in the same gotra. Two decomposed remains were discovered in Hissar’s Barwala branch canal on June 23. Further examination yielded some startling revelations. The couple was reportedly asked to accept each other as brother and sister. When they resisted, insecticides were forced down their throats. They were then strangled, and their bodies tossed into the canal.

Five family members from Babli – her brother Suresh, his uncles Rajender and Baru Ram, and his cousins Satish and Gurdev— were sentenced to death by a court in the Karnal district in March 2010 for their murder. While the head of the khap Ganga Raj was sentenced to life imprisonment, Mandeep Singh, the driver of the vehicle involved in the kidnapping of the couple, was sentenced to seven years in prison. The defendant appealed before the High Court of Punjab and Haryana.

Issue

Whether the judgment given by the District Court is maintainable or not?

Judgment

Right to Marry
Source: The New Indian Express

The Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed Ganga Raj’s parole plea. The court approved his and the other six inmates’ appeals opposing the court’s verdict on May 13, 2010. On March 11th, the Punjab and Haryana High Court commuted the death sentences of four prisoners in the Manoj-Babli honor killing case to life imprisonment: Babli’s brother Suresh, uncles Rajender and Baru Ram, and Gurdev. Ganga Raj, the alleged plot’s mastermind, and another convict, Satish, were both found not guilty.

Rational

“This court has gone through sleepless nights trying to put itself in the shoes of the offenders and consider as to what would have driven them to take such a step,” district judge Vani Gopal Sharma wrote in her decision. Court further added,” Khap panchayats have operated in defiance of the constitution, mocked it, and turned into their law.”

The court also stated that an adult who wants to marry someone from another caste or group is not prohibited by law and that all honor crimes committed on this basis are illegal and will be treated harshly.

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