Tuesday, March 15 2005 15:14 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: For those who treat horoscopes as gospel truth, the Supreme Court has dished out a bitter truth - the date of birth (DoB) of a person entered in a horoscope can never be given primacy over the DoB mentioned in his School Leaving Certificate (SLC).

"Horoscope is a very weak material to prove age of a person," a Bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S H Kapadia yesterday (March 14, 2005) said allowing an appeal of Punjab Government challenging a High Court order ruling in favour of a person who had relied on the horoscope for proving his DoB.

In most cases the makers of horoscope might not be available to prove that it was made immediately after the birth of the person resulting in a heavy onus on the person who wanted to rely on the authenticity of the DoB mentioned in the horoscope, Justice Pasayat, writing for the Bench, said.

On the contrary, the statement contained in the admission register of the school as to the age of an individual on information supplied to the school authorities by the father, guardian or a close relative was more authentic evidence unless established by unimpeachable contrary material that the DoB was inherently improbable, the Court said.

"Therefore, the school records have more probative value than a horoscope. Where no other material is available, the horoscope may be considered but subject to its authenticity being established," the Bench said.