Salishi Sabha – often referred to as Bengal’s very own ‘Khap Panchayat’ – is now being questioned by the court.
The Bench of Chief Justice Arun Kumar Mishra and Justice Joymalya Bagchi has asked the State administration to file a report naming the people behind the Salishi Sabha in Malda’s Manikchowk area in April. The court has asked for the names of the ‘judges’ of the Sabha as well.
A Salishi Sabha was convened in Manikchowk on April 2. The Sabha decided to pardon a rape accused. The verdict of the Sabha was so humiliating for the housewife, who was allegedly raped, that she committed suicide. The woman was allegedly raped on March 31.
The court has asked for a detailed report from the District Magistrate (DM) of Malda specifically focussing on two aspects – the names of the people who convened the Sabha and the ones who delivered the verdict.
The husband of the victim told the media earlier that one Nabin Mondal had raped his wife. However, the Sabha decided to pardon Mondal saying that he would have to cough up twenty five thousand rupees “if he commits such acts again.” The verdict forced the mother of four to commit suicide, her lawyers said in the court. The DM has been asked to submit a report within six weeks.
Salishi Sabha is a traditional court that intervenes when disputes cannot be resolved amicably. Such courts have existed for several decades and often they pass reasonably balanced and well argued judgments on basis of specific needs and complex equations of society.
However, recently these unrecognised community courts came into limelight after a few media reports highlighted that the judges of Salishi Sabhas are delivering arbitrary judgments in many cases, including rape cases.
In recent times, at least two cases were reported where the verdict of Sabhas were overturned by the court. One incident was in Suri in Birbhum where a girl was raped at the behest of the Sabha and the other one in the Mohammad Bazar area, where a father’s complaint regarding rape of his daughter was judged lightly by the traditional court. In both the cases, the accused were arrested after the media flagged the issue.
