Karnataka to enact anti-superstition law

Karnataka government intends to enact a legislation to crack down on superstition and black magic on the lines of the one in Maharashtra, Law Minister T B Jayachandra said today.
Illiterates and gullible sections of society falling prey to such practices are rampant in the state, and the government wants to curb them, Jayachandra told reporters here.
The Minister said he would write to the Social Welfare Department seeking its comments, while inputs from National Law School of India University and Karnataka Law University would also be incorporated in the proposed comprehensive legislation, which aims to curtail such practices and go after those who encourage them.

It would be called Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman Evil and Gory Practices and Blackmagic Bill, 2013.
Under the proposed law, promoters of various such practices that exploit the people would be brought to book. "The aim is to protect people and put promoters of such practices behind bars," Jayachandra said.
He said he has studied the ordinance in Maharashtra, but Karnataka's proposed legislation would be different, he said.
The Minister said along with the Act, the government would also come out with rules to curb such practices so that there is no ambiguity in implementation of stringent provisions. "Pros and cons are being studied".