'Re-educate yourself': SC rejects PIL challenging Darwin, Einstein theories

The petitioner contended that Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution and Einstein's mass-energy equivalence (E=MC²) equation were incorrect and should not be taught

The Supreme Court (SC) dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) on Friday that challenged Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and Albert Einstein's mass–energy equivalence (E=MC²) equation, according to a report by Bar and Bench.

The petitioner Raj Kumar had filed the PIL challenging the theories on Friday. Kumar argued that Darwin's theory of evolution and Einstein's popular theory on special relativity were incorrect. He added that teaching them to the public was harmful and, therefore, should be removed from educational institutes.

A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia dismissed the plea, stating that established scientific theories could not be removed and people could not be compelled to "unlearn" them. The Bench added that Kumar should either "re-educate" themselves or develop an alternative theory.

The Court states, "You go re-educate yourself or make your own theory. We cannot compel anyone to unlearn. Dismissed."

The bench then remarked, "What is the Supreme Court supposed to do? You say you studied something in school, you were a science student. Now you say that those theories are wrong. If you believe that those theories were wrong, then the Supreme Court has nothing to do."

During the same day, Justice Kaul stated they should impose a "cost" on such PILs. This statement had been in response to a PIL seeking to formulate a national traffic management policy, brought before the Bench by Advocate Raghav Awasthi. Awasthi withdrew their PIL, stating it would be taken to the High Court instead.