Kangaroo courts and their dictates are the biggest threats to the Indian democracy, a Delhi court has said while asking police to take action against a man for restraining witnesses from deposing in a gangrape case.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Kamini Lau said "such self-styled local leaders cannot be permitted to takeover the legally-constituted courts" and their threats to witnesses result into "casualty of justice".

"Kangaroo courts and their dictates are the biggest threats to the Indian democracy. Self-styled local 'netas' cannot be permitted to takeover the legally constituted courts of India and reduce the judicial system to insignificance by holding parallel proceedings of their own.

"...One of the major reasons for a high rate of acquittal and the guilty getting away in cases involving rape and sexual abuse, is the social attitude and the frequent interventions and interferences by these self-styled leaders and kangaroo courts on account of which the victim and her family are often compelled to compromise with the offenders under the fear of social ostracising," the court said.

The judge made the remarks, taking note of an incident in which a local leader of Mukherjee Nagar in North West Delhi had threatened an alleged gangrape victim and her siblings and had stopped them from going to the courtroom to depose.

The ASJ directed station house officer of Prashant Vihar police station to take appropriate action against Rajesh, who had restrained the three witnesses from deposing in the court and had threatened them to compromise with the accused.

Rajesh had also asked the witnesses to take next date in the case on the pretext that the victim was unwell, the witnesses told the court.