In March 2018 the Supreme Court decided Shakti Vahini v. Union of India, a case about killings of couples in the name of family honor. The court held that khap panchayats, village caste councils, have no authority to interfere with an adult’s choice of a partner.
“Class honour, howsoever perceived, cannot smother the choice of an individual,” the court wrote. The activities of such councils, it said, “are to be stopped in entirety.”