Supreme Court judge favours death in honour killings, fake encounter cases

Holding that crimes such as honour killings and fake police encounters should be dealt with strongly, a Supreme Court judge has said convicts in such cases should be awarded death sentence.

Referring to honour killings cases in states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and parts of Rajasthan, Justice Markandey Katju in a lecture here last evening said such acts were encouraged by caste panchayats.

"These honour killings are done or encouraged by the caste panchayats. As these panchayats are vote banks for those in power, they do not want to disturb their vote bank," he said.

He said the district magistrates and superintendents of police "should be placed under suspension" if there were cases of honour killings in their respective areas of operation.

"The maximum one can do if your girl is marrying someone against your will is to sever social relations with her and nothing more," Katju said.

Justice Katju said policemen behind fake encounters should also be handed down death sentence since they are supposed "to protect the public and not murder them."

"...This is a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution which says that no one will be deprived of his life and liberty except when the procedure is instructed by law," he said.

Referring to statements by policemen at times that they only follow the orders of their superiors, he said if a policeman is told to commit a crime by a superintendent of police, "should he follow that order? You have to uphold the law."

"If you want to punish somebody, criminal or whatever, you have to charge him in the court of law, you have to follow the procedure, hold a trial, give him an opportunity to defend himself and then he can be punished," he said.

Justice Katju as part of a bench of the Supreme Court had recently held that fake encounter killings should be considered rarest of rare cases and police personnel involved in such incidents should be awarded the maximum sentence.

He had also been part of a bench that last year held that capital punishment must be awarded to those convicted of honour killings.