New Delhi: The Supreme Court today referred petitions to a larger bench seeking review of the apex court’s 2018 judgment of allowing entry of women between the ages of 10 and 50 into the Sabarimala temple.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court today referred petitions to a larger bench seeking review of the apex court’s 2018 judgment of allowing entry of women between the ages of 10 and 50 into the Sabarimala temple.
Deciding between faith and rights, the Supreme Court has referred the issue to a seven-judge bench. The current bench that had been reviewing the case is a five-judge bench. The Supreme Court clarified that the right of women to enter mosques and that of Parsi women to enter the fire temple are also connected matters. Noting that Courts should tread cautiously in matters of religious beliefs, the Court referred it to a seven-judge bench.
Justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra are among the members of the five-judge bench which is being led by CJI Ranjan Gogoi who reviewed a clutch of petitions including the 56 review petition, four fresh writ petitions and five transfer pleas challenging the September 28 order.
Commenting on the issue prior to the verdict, Kerala Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday had said that it was not possible for the state to bring in any legislation circumventing the entry of women. "Those who talk about bringing in legislation on Sabarimala women entry were "cheating" devotees," he said.
Earlier, on September 28, 2018, the SC had lifted the ban that prevented women and girls between the ages of 10 and 50 from entering the Sabarimala shrine in Kerala and had held that this centuries-old Hindu religious practice was illegal and unconstitutional. "It is a universal truth that faith and religion do not countenance discrimination but religious practices are sometimes seen as perpetuating patriarchy, thereby negating the basic tenets of faith and of gender equality and rights," stated the SC.
However in February 2019, the Supreme Court had reserved judgment after hearing several pleas filed by parties such as the Nair Service Society, the priest of the temple and the Travancore Devaswom Board, seeking a review of the Court’s September 28, 2018 judgment permitting entry for women to the shrine.