Published on: 12 July 2023 at 12:55 IST
The Supreme Court has resolved a matter that it had taken notice of and stayed an order from the Allahabad High Court. The order required the head of the astrology department at Lucknow University to determine whether an alleged rape victim was ‘manglik’ (born under an unfavorable astrological influence). T
he Supreme Court had previously stated that the high court would address the matter on its merits on the already fixed date of June 26. The high court had issued the order on May 23 while considering the bail application of a man accused of raping the woman under the false promise of marriage.
During the hearing on Tuesday, the state counsel and the complainant’s counsel informed the bench, comprised of Justices C.T. Ravikumar and Sudhanshu Dhulia, that the bail application had already been dismissed. Considering these developments, the Supreme Court bench concluded that there would be no purpose in keeping the matter pending and disposed of it accordingly.
During the June 3 hearing, the Supreme Court had questioned the relevance of seeking an astrology report while considering a bail application. The man’s counsel had argued in the high court that since the woman was ‘manglik,’ their marriage could not be solemnized, resulting in its rejection. However, the woman’s counsel had insisted that she was not ‘manglik.’ In Hindu astrology, being ‘manglik’ is believed to bring affliction, and some superstitious Hindus consider a marriage between a ‘manglik’ and a non-‘manglik’ as inauspicious and potentially disastrous.
