The Law and The Mob

On January 16, 2018, the Supreme Court assured us that our choice of spouse could not be questioned by a khap panchayat.

On January 16, 2018, the Supreme Court assured us that our choice of spouse could not be questioned by a khap panchayat. On January 23, 2018, the Supreme Court told Hadiya that they could not question an adult woman’s choice of husband. But first we had to endure the tragic drama enacted by many in court, who felt they were seriously advocating a cause when they said that Hadiya suffered from “Stockholm syndrome” or that a khap was, in fact, entitled to challenge a marriage. It’s cringe-inducing that such legal pronouncements of freedom to marry are still necessary after 70 years of constitutionally elected governments in the world’s largest democracy.

Read the full article published in India Today Read here.

Malvika Rajkotia

Malavika Rajkotia is an attorney with about 31 years of experience in a wide range of practice areas. She has developed a focus on family and property law, and also takes up issues pertaining to civil liberties and environmental law. Her personal interests are theatre where she has been active, having done about 30 Hindi and English productions as also a television law based serial called “Bhanwar”. She anchored the first Hindi Television Talk show in India called Shakti, which focused on women’s rights. She also works with various NGOs like Sakshi and IFSHA on civil liberties and human rights issues.

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