Kerala: The Supreme Court on Wednesday started hearing a batch of pleas seeking review of its judgement allowing women of all ages to enter Kerala’s Sabarimala temple complex.
A five-judge constitution bench comprising of Chief Justice (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi and Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra is hearing the petition.
There are 64 cases being heard in total, out of which some are review petitions and some transfer petitions.
The apex court in its order of September 28 2018 set aside a Kerala temple rule which disallowed women in the reproductive age groups between 10 and 50 years. The issue has also led to a political turmoil with the state’s Left government in the state backing the ruling and the BJP opposing it. Several women have since visited the temple which houses a bachelor deity.
On September 28 2018, a five-judge constitution bench, headed by the then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, in a 4:1 verdict had paved the way for entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple, saying the ban amounted to gender discrimination.
On November 13 2018, the apex court had agreed to hear in open court in January this year the pleas seeking review of its verdict, but had refused to stay the judgement. However, on January 22, the top court had said it may not start hearing the pleas, seeking review of Sabarimala verdict till January 30 as one of the judges of the bench, Justice Indu Malhotra, was on medical leave.
Abhishek Singhvi says, “The exclusion in this case is based on inherent physiological characteristics which has nexus with the nature of the deity, submits. The above argument of intrinsic character of naishtika bhramachari of the deity has not been dealt with by the 2018 judgment and that is my ground for review. The Gods in Hinduism are worshipped in various forms and manifestations and this particular God/ deity is worshipped in this manner. Article 17 has to be read as a caste based or religion based exclusion. In this case there is no exclusion of women or men or any caste of men or women. My third submission is regarding Constitutional morality. My argument is where rights under Article 25 are under consideration, Constitutional morality has to be applied keeping in mind the occupied field facet.”
After K Parasaran concludes, V Giri commences his arguments. He says, “Any person who asserts right under Article 25(2)(b) to worship has to do it in consonance with the nature of deity.” Relying on Mahendran judgment, he says, “In the absence of any material which shows that it is an exclusionary practice, the 2018 verdict should be reconsidered.”
Senior advocate K Prasaran, appearing for Nair Service Society, opens arguments before five-judge bench. He seeks setting aside of verdict that allowed women of all ages entry into Sabarimala temple.
Supreme Court commences hearing on pleas seeking review of verdict that had allowed women of all age groups entry into Sabarimala temple.
Bureau Report
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