Oh those crazy Indians! A high court judge in the subcontinent has apparently ruled that astrology is a pukka science like physics or chemistry. Or maybe not.

The Telegraph reports that the Bombay High Court (it is officially still called that, before everyone gets on our case about "Mumbai") has decided that proper scientists will just have to accept that "astrologers are officially their colleagues".

Astrology is wildly popular in India, where designation of an auspicious day by star-chart-scribbling charlatans can lead to thousands of marriages, traffic jams etc.

Actually it seems that all the High Court decided was that India's Drugs and Magical Remedies Act of 1954 doesn't apply to astrologers (or tantric magicians, seemingly) which seems fairly reasonable - drugs not usually being involved.

However, a Dr Ramakrishna, "government deputy drug controller", apparently stated in an affidavit that "The Act does not cover astrology and related sciences. Astrology is a trusted science and is being practised for over 4000 years."

So we have an Indian government official saying that astrology is a "trusted science", though even he didn't say that physicists etc have to accept astrologers as their equals. As for the high court judges, all they said was that you can't prosecute astrologers and related bullshitters under the Drugs and Magical Remedies Act.

But that's not nearly such a good "oh those crazy Indians" story. ®