A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a directive to the State government to take steps to enact a law against superstitious practices such as sorcery and black magic.
The Bench led by Chief Justice S.V.N. Bhatti dismissed the petition for “defaults” as no lawyer represented the petitioner when the petition came up for hearing. When the petition came up for hearing on May 26 also, no one represented the petitioner.
The petition, filed in the wake of the murder of two women as part of human sacrificial rituals in Elanthoor village in Pathanamthitta district, sought a directive to the State government to take a decision on the State Law Reform Commission’s recommendation to enact a law against superstitious practices .
The government had submitted earlier that the draft of the Kerala Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices, Sorcery and Black Magic Bill was ready and would be finalised as expeditiously as possible after the Home department scrutinised the draft.
