SC stays Allahabad HC order on examining 'rape' victim's horoscope

Astrology

The Supreme Court on June 3 stayed an Allahabad High Court's  May 23 order directing the head of the department of astrology at Lucknow University to ascertain whether an alleged rape victim was mangalik and issued notices to all parties.

The court, while making it clear that it was not entering into the merits of astrology as a science, said such an order should not have been passed while hearing a bail plea. The court asked the Allahabad High Court to evaluate the accused's bail plea on merits.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta urged the court to stay the order, saying it was "disturbing". The lawyer for the rape victim and the complainant told the Supreme Court that the high court passed the order after taking the consent of both sides.

The Supreme Court stayed the order, saying an astrology report was not required in a bail plea.

The Lucknow Bench of the high court gave bail to the rape accused whose lawyer told the court that the woman was mangalik and his client didn't intend to marry her. The victim's lawyer, however, contested the claim and argued that the girl was not a manglik, which astrologers believe is an inauspicious alignment of planets that comes in the way of a happy married life.

The court ordered both sides to submit their birth charts to the head of the astrology department at Lucknow University within 10 days. The head of the department was given three weeks to submit a report in a sealed cover.

The woman has claimed she got intimate with the accused after he promised to marry her but he turned down her marriage proposal, saying she was a manglik.

The high court listed the case for hearing on June 26.

According to Hindu astrology, a manglik is a person born under the influence of the planet Mars (Mangala). The person is said to have 'Mangala Dosha'.  Astrologers advise against a marriage between a manglik and a non-manglik.