SC says it cannot issue directions to eradicate superstition, sorcery

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea seeking directions to the Centre and states to take appropriate steps to eradicate the menace of superstition, sorcery and other similar practices.

A three-judge bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said the answer for eradication of superstition is education.

The top court said it is for the Parliament to intervene in such matters.

"How can we issue a writ that steps be taken to develop scientific temper and eradicate superstition. The founding fathers of the Constitution included all this in directive principles of state policy," the bench said.

The petitioner advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay withdrew the plea after the bench expressed disinclination to entertain the matter.

The plea said a strict anti-superstition and sorcery law is urgently needed to do away with the unscientific acts prevalent in the society that adversely impact the community and also to prevent fake seers from exploiting innocent people.