The Delhi high court today dismissed as withdrawn a petition seeking amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) in order to prohibit marriages in the same clan (gotra).
A vacation bench of justices SN Dhingra and AK Pathak warned that a heavy cost would be imposed on the petitioner, Naresh Kadyan, for wasting the time of the court prompting him to withdraw his plea.
"You don't know what is gotra? Which Hindu text prescribes banning of sagotra (same clan) marriage? Why are you wasting the time of the court," the court asked.
"If you are not able to substantiate your words, then you should not have come before the court," the bench said.
Arguing on behalf of Kadyan, his counsel Rajendra Yadav sought the direction of the court to the government for appointment of a commission to bring about the necessary amendments in the HMA to ban same gotra marriage.
The counsel submitted that same gotra marriage is violative of the fundamental rights and against the Hindu traditions.
The court, however, did not find any merit in the contention and asked him to withdraw his petition otherwise a heavy cost would be imposed on him.
The counsel submitted that Khap Panchayats have decided to go on a strike from June 21 to protest marriages in the same gotra.
"Strike is your fundamental right. Who is stopping you to go on strike," the court observed, saying that the petition was without any merit.
Earlier, the Supreme Court declined to entertain the petition and asked the petitioner to approach the high court.
