Amid an outcry over their diktats against marriages in same sub-castes, a grand assembly of self-styled caste councils on Monday struck a defiant note vowing to fight in courts for the seven people convicted a fortnight ago in honour killing of a couple in Haryana.

The meeting of representatives 36 caste-based councils or 'khap panchayats' from Haryana, parts of UP, Rajasthan and Delhi, demanded that the Hindu Marriage Act be amended to ban marriages in the same sub-castes (gotras).

The assembly was convened in the wake of the landmark verdict of a Karnal court on March 30 awarding death penalty to five for killing Manoj (23) and Babli (19) in 2007 as they had married in the same sub-caste. The head of a 'khap' panchayat which had ordered the killing was sentenced to life imprisonment while a driver who had kidnapped them was given seven years jail.

The meeting denied allegations that the 'khap' had issued "death warrant" against Manoj and Babli.

The 'Sarv Jaati Khap Mahapanchayat' held in this Haryana town, 84 kms from Chandigarh, offered every support to those who fight the case for the convicts in higher courts.

Mahender Singh Tikiat, president of the Bharitya Kisan Union (Tikiat), who presided over the assembly, and Yudhvir Singh, general secretary of the All India Jat Mahasabha, said their members would block the Grand Trunk road to press their demand.