In May 2023, a rape victim approached the Allahabad High Court alleging that the assailant indulged in sexual relations with her on false pretext of marrying her. Per contra, the accused submitted that the marriage between him and the victim could not be solemnized as the victim is a ‘Manglik’.

Who is a Manglik?

As per Astrology, a Manglik is a person born with mangal(Mars) Dosha, which is a prophetic mix that happens if Mars(Mangal) is in the first, second(considered by South Indian astrologers), fourth, seventh, eighth and twelfth place of the ascendant graph.

What happens if a Manglik marries a non-Manglik? Astrologically, the union between the two would result in tribulations and sorrows, including loss of life. But, marriage between two mangliks ‘automatically’ ends the mangal Dosha, and is therefore desirable.

In view of conflicting claims made by the parties in the case before the Allahabad High Court, the Court, on May 23 2023 directed the Head of Astrology Department with the Lucknow University to examine the horoscope of the rape victim, to ascertain if she was indeed a Manglik. The court directed the parties to produce their kundali(horoscopes) before the HOD within ten days.

In a special sitting on June 3 2023, a vacation bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Pankaj Mithal stayed the order passed by the Allahabad High Court.

The Allahabad High Court’s ruling to let the case take umbrage under astrology, of all things, was appalling. One was forced to wonder if Astrology is the newly adopted bedrock on which India, believed to be a superpower in the making, as made out by her present government and the rest of the world, ought to be built. The High Court’s ruling left what little was left of sensible citizens in the country wondering if scientific temper, which was adopted as the cornerstone on which modern India was modeled at independence by people like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was relegated to the trashcan. If  scientific principles have been substituted with astrology. The Allahabad ruling not only undermined, but also made fool of the rape victim. It furthered breach of her privacy. Besides, it opened the floodgates to let astrology influence a state subject like rape, overshadowing time-tested law of the land.

Would horoscopes determine rape and it’s consideration as a crime in this country, and the means to claim immunity from punishment against it? One wondered! Would Indian women be required to have their horoscopes as a vital commodity in their handbags?

Would position of Mars in the solar system be deciding safety of Indian women?

Had India retreated from her much-trumpeted march as a superpower by adopting astrology as her mantra, instead of scientific means? To achieve ‘development’- the word most resorted to by the present Head of Indian government?

 But, the Supreme Court’s ruling annulling the Allahabad High Court’s outlandish ruling came as a welcome whiff of fresh breeze- a beacon of hope. It doused the fears of right-thinking and concerned citizens of India.

Astrology was booted out from the commodity on which India was threatened to be governed on from henceforth. Sanity and science seemed to have regained their rightful place in the scheme of things. The Apex Court made sure the law of the land would prevail over planetary positions within the Solar System, leaving the planets to mind their business of revolving around the Sun.