NEW DELHI: The

Supreme Court

on Friday criticised a serial

PIL

petitioner for seeking a direction to govts to take steps to eradicate superstitions, which he said claims hundreds of lives every year, and develop scientific temper among people, the latter being part of the directive principles of state policy.
A bench led by CJI D Y Chandrachud asked petitioner-advocate Ashwini Upadhyay – ” Development of scientific temper among people cannot be done by judicial orders.” “We cannot direct what the students should learn in schools.

These are within the policy domain of the experts in the education department of the govts. The students are already burdened with vastly expanded courses of studies. We cannot by a judicial order add to that,” the CJI said.
When the petitioner said that it was a genuine PIL for social reforms, the CJI said, “One does not become a social reformer by filing PILs in constitutional courts. You can work on the field to educate people against

superstition

.” When an all out effort by Upadhyay failed to persuade the court to entertain the PIL, he decided to withdraw it.