New Delhi, Nov. 20: If superstition is the reason, Kerala High Court will have to give it up. If not, the court will have to defend its decision not to assign number 13 to any of its 30 courtrooms.

“Superstition should not be encouraged,’’ a bench headed by Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal observed while admitting a petition challenging a high court order imposing a fine of Rs 10,000 on a person questioning the omission of number 13.

“You should advise the high court to set it right,’’ the bench told the high court counsel. The final order has not been passed.

The high court had on February 14 imposed the fine while dismissing a petition by N.K. Chandramohan seeking the proceedings/records which led to number 13 being skipped while assigning numbers to courtrooms in the new complex inaugurated on February 11.

The petitioner contended 13 was considered inauspicious by Christians because Jesus was the 13th guest at the Last Supper and because his “13th disciple” Judas had a role to play in his crucifixion.

He said it was against secular principles to show affinity to any religion. Otherwise, the high court should also give due recognition to Hindu belief by not taking up cases of Hindus during the inauspicious Rahukal.

But the high court contended there was “no religious tinge or angle” behind not allocating the number. In an affidavit, it said the decision was “purely administrative in nature” and had been taken on a recommendation from a panel of high court judges.

The high court said it had “absolutely no hesitation to hold that the petitioner has embarked on a frivolous misadventure to malign/embarrass this court”.

It said the fact that the court started functioning from the new building on February 13 showed “this court has not taken into consideration any Christian belief”.

It added that Jesus had only 12 disciples and not 13, as the petition claimed. Besides, Hindu belief only bars one from starting a journey during Rahukal, not anything else.

The old high court building had a courtroom numbered 13. In 1995, some judges allegedly decided to avoid the “evil number” and re-numbered it as 12-A. The number was again avoided in the new building.