 The case was the first resulting in the conviction of khap panchayats and the first capital punishment verdict in an honour killing case in India . The Indian media and legal experts hailed it as a " landmark judgement " , a victory over these infamous assemblies , which acted for years with impunity as parallel judicial bodies . Also , few honour killing cases went to court , and this was the first case in which the groom 's family in an honour killing filed the case . In a statement to the press , former Home Minister Chidambaram slammed the khap panchayats , asking tersely , " Who are these khap panchayats ? Who gave them the right to kill in the name of honour ? " 
