Honour killings fall within the ambit of rarest of rare cases says SC

The Supreme Court held that the perpetrators of honour killing should be awarded the highest punishment as it satisfies the rarest of rare standard..The Supreme Court held that the perpetrators of honour killing should be awarded the highest punishment as it satisfies the rarest of rare standard..Delivering the judgment, a Bench of Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha said, “In our opinion, honour killings, for whatever reason, come within the category of rarest of rare cases deserving death punishment. It is time to stamp out these barbaric, feudal practices which are a slur on our nation. This is necessary as a deterrent for such outrageous, uncivilised behaviour. All persons who are planning to perpetrate ‘honour’ killings should know that the gallows await them”, reports Hindu..The bench passed the judgment while dismissing an appeal filed by Bhagwan Dass challenging the life imprisonment awarded to him by a trial court and later confirmed by Delhi High Court for killing his daughter Seema as she was allegedly in an incestuous relationship with her cousin, despite being married..Justice Katju said, “Honour killings have become a common phenomenon in various parts of the country particularly in Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. Often young couples who fall in love have to seek shelter in police lines or protection homes, to avoid the wrath of kangaroo courts”..The Court went on to say that people take law in their hands, when a young man/woman, who is related to them or belonging to their caste wishes to marry or is in a relation with someone who they do not like. This is totally illegal. The Court pointed out that maximum he can do is to cut off social relations with her/him, but he cannot take the law into his own hands by committing violence or giving threats of violence..According to India Today, even though the Supreme Court has in the past laid down certain guidelines for deciding which type of cases would fall within the category of rarest of the rare, it was left to the judges to decide which cases fell within this category. This brought in an element of subjectivity in the matter and the thinking and ideology of a judge influenced the decision-making process..The clear exposition on honour killing by Justice Katju, however, has left little room for discretion for judges deciding punishments in such cases..The Court directed that in future all trial courts and High Courts should treat honour killings as rarest of rare cases and award the death sentence. To ensure that the position is reflected down the judicial hierarchy, the bench directed that a copy of the judgment be sent to the registrar generals of all the high courts for circulation among judges..The Supreme Court held that “there is nothing honourable in honour killings”.

Honour killings fall within the ambit of rarest of rare cases says SC

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