Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B. the back of Vijaysen Reddy was listening Public interest litigation The petition, filed by social activist U Sambasiva Rao, has sought a thorough probe into the 36 honor killings that took place in the state.
However, the earlier memos of the DGP have several printing errors and as a result of one such error, the memo itself was seen giving the message that 50 khap panchayats were taken care of by the police in Telangana. Shocked by the revelations about the existence of khap panchayats in Telangana too, the bench asked the DGP why his affidavit was silent on the follow-up or tracking of khap panchayats.
In fact, the circular asked the police to take action against the elders of the khap panchayat if they come to any such meeting of the caste elders who ask people to abide by unlawful conditions. The bench sought a detailed affidavit on this and posted the matter for hearing on September 29.
Petitioner Sambasiva Rao had filed his petition in 2019 but he died due to COVID-19 in July 2020. In its last hearing, the bench had sought an affidavit from the DGP on the steps taken to check the menace of honor killings.
After perusing the affidavit, the bench expressed dissatisfaction and sought a more detailed affidavit explaining the specific problems arising due to Khap Panchayats etc. and the steps taken to prevent them. Khap Panchayats, which are prevalent in the states like Haryana And Punjab, known in AP and Telangana as a ‘meeting of caste elders’ who impose unlawful conditions on ‘violators’.
Some of these punishments include eviction of violators and their families from villages, asking people to boycott the families of violators, who cross caste lines to marry a person of their choice.
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