"You Don't Become A Social Reformer By Merely Moving The Court": Apex Court Dismisses PIL Seeking Steps To Eradicate Superstition & Sorcery

While hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking direction to the Center and States to take appropriate steps to control superstition and sorcery in order to secure the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 21, and 25 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court told the petitioner, "You don't become a social reformer by merely moving the Court. Many social reformers have never come to court. So, they do so much of good work outside the Court."

The Bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra also said, "The answer is really education and the spread of literacy. Developing a scientific temper is not all about judicial writs it is also about people getting educated. The more educated you become, the more, rational you become, at least that's the presumption."

At the outset, the CJI asked the petitioner, Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who appeared in person, "What kind of relief.... to direct the States and Union to eradicate superstitions and similar evil practices to develop a scientific temper? Even the Constitution has placed it in the Directive Principles to develop a scientific temper. What directions can we issue?"

Upadhyay informed the Bench that a similar matter is pending before Justice Sanjiv Khanna and requested that the Court tag it along with that case. 

The CJI, however, asked Upadhyay to first argue the case. "How can a Court issue these kinds of writs? How can we implement it, that will eradicate superstition? Tell us. How can we enforce it?", the CJI asked. 

The Bench further asked Upadhyay whether he wanted a law to be enacted. 

Upadhyay replied in a negative. The petitioner submitted, "There is a vacuum; there is a gap. Last year, 11 members of a family, the Bhatia family, in Delhi committed suicide due to the influence of superstition. In Kerala last year, 2 women were brutally killed."

The CJI insisted that the answer is not in passing judicial writs, but in education. "The answer is for people to become more educated. Look at all the youngsters, they are not so superstitious, simply because they are more educated," the CJI said. 

Upadhyay requested the matter to be tagged along with another matter in a different Court. 

However, the Bench was not inclined to do so. The CJI clearly said, "We will not tag it. We take a different view."

Upadhyay sought permission to withdraw the petition. Accordingly, the Court allowed the withdrawal. 

The PIL filed by Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay also sought directions to Centre and States to develop scientific temper, humanism, and the spirit of inquiry and reform and to promote the fundamental duties among citizens in the spirit of Article 51A of the Constitution.

Calling superstition and sorcery pan-India evil, the PIL stated that it is the duty of the Centre to either enact a new stringent law or add a chapter in Bhartiya Nyay Sanita to criminalize them.

"The Cause of Action accrued on 01.07.2018, when al 1 Members of a Family in Delhi committed suicide under the influence of superstition &sorcery. Similarly, the brutal murder of 02 women as part of ritualistic human sacrifices in Kerala have left the country in shock. According to preliminary probe, the victims were subjected to extreme torture and sexually harassed, their body parts cut into several pieces before they were buried in a pit. There are hundreds of similar cases across the country. Very recently, 121 people died and several injured in a stampede in Uttar Pradesh and the root cause of the incident is Superstition and Sorcery," the petition read. 

Cause Title: Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay v. Union of India & Ors. [W.P. (C) No. 461/2024]