The Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice, other Inhuman and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013 is a

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

act for the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, originally drafted by anti-superstition activist and the founder of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS),

Narendra Dabholkar Narendra Achyut Dabholkar (1 November 1945 – 20 August 2013) was an Indian physician, social activist, rationalist and author from Maharashtra, India. In 1989 he founded and became president of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti ...

(1945-2013) in 2003. The act criminalises practices related to

black magic Black magic (Middle English: ''nigromancy''), sometimes dark magic, traditionally refers to the use of Magic (paranormal), magic or supernatural powers for evil and selfish purposes. The links and interaction between black magic and religi ...

, human sacrifices, use of magic remedies to cure ailments and other such acts which may exploit people's

superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic (supernatural), magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly app ...

s. The list of banned activities was continually reduced over the years. In the aftermath of Dabholkar's murder, the resulting bill was promulgated on 26 August 2013, and was formally introduced in the winter session of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

in December 2013.

Overview

The current bill has 12 clauses which criminalise only the following acts: * Assault, torture, forced ingestion of human excreta, forced sexual acts, branding etc. on the pretext of exorcising

ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

from an allegedly possessed person. * Claiming and broadcasting the ability to perform miracles and defrauding or terrorising people by such means. * Carrying out or encouraging acts which endanger life or cause grievous injury in order to gain supernatural powers. * Carrying out or encouraging inhuman acts or human sacrifice in quest of some bounty or reward. * Creating the impression that a person has supernatural powers and compelling people to follow his/her orders. * Accusing a person of practising black magic or being an incarnation of ''Shaitan'' (

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

), blaming him/her of causing diseases or misfortune, and harassing the person. * Accusing a person of practising black magic, parading him/her naked and hindering the person's activities. * Claiming the ability to invoke ghosts, causing a panic or intimidating others by threatening to invoke ghosts, or creating the impression of possession, preventing the person from seeking medical treatment, and compelling him/her to inhuman acts. * Preventing a person from seeking medical advice in case of dog, snake, or scorpion bite, and compelling him/her to take magic remedies. * Claiming to perform surgery by fingers (

psychic surgery An alleged psychic surgeon at work Psychic surgery is a medical fraud in which practitioners create the illusion of performing surgery with their bare hands and use sleight of hand, fake blood, and animal parts to convince the patient that di ...

) and claiming to change the sex of an unborn

foetus A fetus or foetus (; : fetuses, foetuses, rarely feti or foeti) is the unborn offspring of a viviparous animal that develops from an embryo. Following the embryonic stage, the fetal stage of development takes place. Prenatal development is a ...

. * Claiming to be related to a person from a previous incarnation and coaxing them to sexual acts, and claiming to have supernatural power to cure an impotent woman and having sexual relation with the woman. * Claiming a mentally challenged person to be having supernatural powers and using such a person for personal gain. Although the human sacrifice is already considered murder in India, encouraging human sacrifice has been criminalised in this law. Each

infraction A summary offence or petty offence is a violation in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment (required for an indictable offence). Canada In Canada, summary of ...

carries a minimum sentence of six months and a maximum sentence of seven years, including a fine ranging from to . The offences are non-bailable and cognisable. The law directs the appointment and training of vigilance officers, to investigate and report these crimes to the local police station. The ranks of these officers are to be greater than the rank of a police inspector.

History

The original bill of 2003 was drafted by

. In July 2003, the draft was approved by the state government. The bill was sent for ratification to the

Central Government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or deleg ...

Chief Minister of Maharashtra The chief minister of Maharashtra (IAST: Mahārāṣṭrāce Mukhyamaṃtrī) is the head of the executive branch of the government of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Following elections to the Legislative Assembly, the governor invites ...

Sushilkumar Shinde in August 2003. However, it was criticised for having poor definitions of terms like superstition, black magic, spells, sorcery etc. The bill was not presented in the winter session of the legislature. The bill was revised and redrafted by rationalist Shyam Manav. This draft was presented as ''Maharashtra Eradication of Black Magic, Evil and Aghori Practices Bill, 2005''. The bill was introduced for the first time in the Legislative Assembly in the winter session of 2005. The bill, was adopted by the Assembly on 16 December 2006, the last day of the session. The ruling

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

(INC) government faced criticism from the lack of debate from the opposition

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP) and Shiv Sena. In 2006 there were protests against the bill, including at a demonstration in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

on 25 February 2006. Protesters, including the Art of Living Foundation and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) claimed the bill gave the police power to search, seize or arrest on mere suspicion. Shyam Manav, president, Akhil Bharatiya Andhshraddha Nirmulan Samiti (ABANS), a major force behind the Bill, refuted these claims: "Under IPC, if anyone is obstructing the work of cops, he can be punished. We have made a comprehensive Bill to weed out crimes against people due to superstition." At the rally a spokesperson for Janajagruti Samiti, Ramesh Shinde, said that the bill was redundant, violated religious freedom and did not acknowledge divine power. I. A. Khan, the caretaker of the Haji Malang Dargah, agreed and added that the bill was influenced by "foreign ideas". The bill was not presented in the 2006 monsoon session. A

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

MLA on the condition of anonymity acknowledged that they didn't want to upset their constituencies ahead of the elections. In 2007, instead of being sent to the second house of the legislature, the Legislative Council of Maharashtra, it was forwarded to an investigative committee. In July 2008, volunteers from the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS) staged a protest in Mumbai to draw attention to the bill, where the protesters slapped themselves. They claimed that it was to remind themselves that, they had elected the wrong representatives who were not interested in the people's welfare. On 8 November 2010, Narhari Maharaj Chaudhari, the Secretary of Maharashtra State Warkari Mahamandal representing the Warkaris, criticised the bill in a press conference stating that it has no clear definition of mental and physical torture. He also stated that it could be used to criminalise every Hindu ritual. He claimed the bill to be redundant as human sacrifice already comes under

Indian Penal Code The Indian Penal Code (IPC) was the official criminal code of the Republic of India, inherited from British India after independence. It remained in force until it was repealed and replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in December 2023 ...

. He defended the Wakari ritual of ''wari'' and called for the bill to be scrapped. On 5 April 2011, Dabholkar, talking at a press conference, criticised television programmes promoting superstitions and called for the bill to be passed. A rally was held at Azad Maidan on 7 April to awareness about the bill. On 7 April 2011,

Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra The deputy chief minister of Maharashtra is the deputy head of the executive branch of the Government of Maharashtra and the second highest ranking minister of the Council of Ministers. List of deputy chief ministers Statistics List by de ...

Ajit Pawar Ajit Anantrao Pawar (Marathi pronunciation: �d͡ʒit̪ pəʋaːɾ born 22 July 1959) is an Indian politician serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra along with Eknath Shinde under Devendra Fadnavis since 5 December 2024. He is t ...

stated that the bill will be introduced in the budget session while responding to MLA Chainsukh Sancheti's queries about child sacrifices. Pawar clarified that the bill will not affect Wakari rituals or any other religious rites. On 7 July 2011, MANS secretary Milind Deshmukh and Dabholkar stated that an anti-superstition bill had been promised by the government since 7 July 1995 but never passed. They started a telegram-sending campaign to draw attention to the issues and also urged local leaders to send telegrams to the Chief Minister. On 20 August 2013, Narendra Dabholkar, the architect and lead campaigner behind the bill, was shot dead, while he was out on a walk. His death triggered protests and demands for the bill to be passed were made. On 21 August 2013, the Maharashtra government approved the bill as an ordinance. On 24 August 2013, K. Sankaranarayanan, the

Governor of Maharashtra The governor of Maharashtra is the ceremonial head of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The Constitution of India confers the executive powers of the state to the governor; however, the de facto executive powers lie with the Council of Minister ...

signed the ordinance. The ordinance will remain in effect until December 2013, when it will be tabled at the winter session of the state legislature. As of August 2013, the bill has been tabled thrice in the Legislative Assembly and had failed to pass each times, and has undergone 29 amendments. On 4 September 2013, the ordinance was used for the first time to arrest two individuals in the Nanded district, who had advertised miracles cures for AIDS, cancer and diabetes in a newspaper. Members of MANS helped the police understand which clause would be applicable. On 8 September 2013, a man claiming to be an

avatar Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

was arrested in Kandivali under this ordinance. He was also charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO) for molestation. The bill to enact the law was titled the ''Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Bill 2013'', also known as the Anti-Superstition Bill, Black Magic Bill, Anti-Jaadu Tona Bill or Jadu Tona Andhshradha Virodhi Bill. It was introduced in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on 11 December 2013 by State Social Justice Minister Shivajirao Moghe. The bill was passed by the Legislative Assembly on 13 December and by the Legislative Council on 18 December 2013. The bill received assent from Governor Sankaranarayanan on 20 December 2013. Being a state law, the bill enacted into law applies only in the comparatively well-off and well-educated state of

. In the rest of India the population remains without comparable protection from fraudulent pretend-healers and other miracle fakers. Narendra Dalbholkar's daughter, Mukta, and other activists continue his campaign for a national-wide anti-superstition law.

Criticism and support

The bill has been criticised for being Anti-Hindu and anti-religion. Dabholkar had responded to the criticism of the bill being anti-religious by stating that the bill does not mention any god or religion, and that only targets fraudulent practices. Manav said that the Wakari sect will not find the bill objectionable, further saying that the law does not prohibit a person from performing a miracle. However, it is a crime if a person claims to perform a miracle and cheats someone. In the aftermath of Dabholkar's murder, Journalist Ellen Barry wrote an article for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' (NYT) about the murder and interviewed a sociologist at the

University of Pune Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Pune, is a public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshkhind. The uni ...

about the bill, who explained that the bill had been continually watered down over the years, due to rising opposition from a few Hindus and stating:

Other state laws

In the lines of the Maharashtra Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Act, the State of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

also passed the bill in 2017 was notified in 2020. In Gujarat the Public Interest Litigation was filed seeking directions to curb inhuman and aghori practices being violative of Fundamental rights of citizens. After issuance of notice, the Gujarat Government had filed the reply before the Court stating that they will move the bill before the assembly
Public Interest Litigation was filed before Gujarat High Court
Gujarat Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Bill, 2024 was unanimously passed in State Assembly and is enacted as The Gujarat Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2024.

References

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The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

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Gulf News ''Gulf News'' is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. First launched in 1978, it is distributed throughout the UAE and also in other Persian Gulf countries. Its online edition was launched in 1996. Thro ...

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The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...

, date=29 August 2013 {{cite news, title=Anti-superstition bill gathers dust, url=http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main4.asp?filename=Ne071704Anti_superstition.asp, access-date=5 October 2013, newspaper= Tehelka, date=17 July 2004, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012012944/http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main4.asp?filename=Ne071704Anti_superstition.asp, archive-date=12 October 2013, df=dmy-all {{cite news, title=Anti-Superstition Ordinance Brought, url=http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/anti-superstition-ordinance-brought.html, access-date=5 October 2013, newspaper= Daily Pioneer, date=28 August 2013 {{cite news, title=Anti-superstition law draws first blood, url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/antisuperstition-law-draws-first-blood/article5094110.ece, access-date=5 October 2013, newspaper=

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DNA India The ''Daily News and Analysis'', abbreviated as ''DNA'', is a Hindi-language news program on Zee news that was earlier an English-language newspaper with multiple local city editions across India. ''DNA'' was first launched as a broadsheet newspa ...

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, date=26 August 2013

External links

Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti
(AntiSuperstition.org) founded by

The Kerala State anti superstition bill proposed by Kerala yukthivadi sangham in 2014
Indian criminal law History of Maharashtra (1947–present) 2013 in Indian law Maharashtra state legislation