Chennai, Aug 28 (PTI) Holding that some amount of independence has to be given to the individual to believe, imagine and ponder over their astrological beliefs, the Madras High Court has rejected a PIL plea to direct the authorities concerned to widely spread public awareness against astrological superstition and thereby eliminate the consequential evils.

Also Read | Jallianwala Bagh is the Place That Gave Courage to an Innumerable Number of … – Latest Tweet by ANI.

The bench, on Friday, however said that the state, in its parens patriae role (the principle that political authority carries with it the responsibility for such protection) may evolve such a mechanism where citizens may be better informed and evil practices are given up.

Also Read | Karnataka: Inter-Caste Married Couple Boycotted By Upper Caste Community in Tumkur.

"As much as the petitioner should be lauded for trying to orient citizens to a more scientific regime and shed superstitious beliefs, the court cannot issue any direction of the kind sought and some amount of independence has to be given to the individual to believe, imagine and ponder over the same," the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P D Audikesavalu said.

It was dismissing a PIL petition from one A K Hemaraj, praying for a direction to the authorities concerned, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bengaluru, to widely spread public awareness about the scientifically proven truth on the subject of astrology and its serious impacts in all social media, TV, newspapers and in all other available means of reaching and educating the poor so as not to spoil the career and lives of their innocent children merely on astrological superstition.

The bench said matters of the present kind cannot be appropriately dealt with in court.

Even science in such regard is not complete or absolute. No sooner was Pluto relegated from the status of a planet than a distant planet appears to have been discovered that may not have encircled the Sun in the course of the entire duration men have been gazing at the sky.

Indeed, there is also much dispute as to whether the planet X, as the distant object is called, was propelled out of the inner solar system or came from a separate solar system and the gravity of the Sun did not let go of it.

The science in respect of the creation of the universe is still in its nascent stage. Not much is yet known of dark matter, not to talk of dark energy and inflation.

Though the knowledge in this field, ever since Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, has increased considerably, there are several unanswered questions and there is no clue as to the reason for the formation of the universe despite space and time being seen on the same platform and the latest telescopes having taken virtual vision to probably the earliest millionth of the approximately 13.8 billion-year lifetime of the known universe.

There are some matters in which exact answers may not be available as the only known intelligent life form in the universe endeavours to grapple with the unknown, the bench said and dismissed the PIL.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)