Kasganj HC dismisses Dalit groom’s plea for baraat, tells him to approach police

READ | For riding horse, upper caste men kill Dalit youth in Gujarat

“Considering the nature of the reliefs sought by the petitioner, we are not inclined to issue any direction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India,” it said. The Article says, “every High Court shall have powers to issue to any person or authority, including in appropriate cases, any Government, within those territories directions, orders or writs, for the enforcement of any of the rights.”

The Thakurs — a majority in Nizampur village where the bride Sheetal lives — had objected to the plans of 27-year-old Sanjay Kumar Jatav, a resident of Basai Babas village in Hathras district, to take a horse-led baraat around the village, claiming it would be a source of shame to their community. The wedding is scheduled for April 20.

Additional Advocate General Manish Goel, who was representing the state in the case, told The Indian Express: “The petition was dismissed because what was brought up before the court was not a matter concerning fundamental rights. There were facts of the case which should ideally be resolved by local authorities.”

Jatav, in his petition, had sought he be allowed to have a marriage ceremony “in full dignity, as celebrated of the marriage ceremony of other people in the village Nizampur” and that the district authorities and police provide his family security during and after the wedding.  “We put forward in court that the authorities were not cooperating with us,” Jatav’s counsel Satyaveer Singh said, adding that Jatav would file a review petition or move the Supreme Court.