SC likely to hear Sabarimala review petitions next month
NEWDELHI: A seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court is likely to be set up in January 2020 to review its Sabarimala judgment that allowed women of all ages to enter the temple in Kerala.
According to a notice sent out by the Supreme Court registry to the advocates connected with the case, the review petitions will be heard by a combination of s e ven j udges, as per t he court’s November 14 order and advocates “are requested to file f our more sets of t he paper books of t he petition i n t he Supreme Court.”
On November 14, a five-judge bench headed by then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, by a 3-2 ruling, deferred its judgment on the review petitions saying that a larger bench need to settle seminal issues, including the interpretation of the provisions of the Constitution touching upon the right to profess, practise and propagate its own religion, are heard by larger bench of commensurate number of Judges.
The court, in its November 14 order, also said , “The debate about the constitutional validity of practices entailing the restriction of entry of women generally in the place of worship is not limited to this case, but also arises in respect of entry of Muslim women in a Durgah/ Mosque as also in relation to Parsi women married to a nonParsi into the holy fire place of an Agyari. There is yet another seminal issue pending for consideration in this Court regarding the powers of the constitutional courts to tread on question as to whether a particular practice is essential to religion or is an integral of the religion, in respect of female genital mutilation in Dawoodi Bohra community.”
The apex court bench, with j us t i c e s RF Nari man, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra also, however, refused to stay the operation of the verdict that would have the effect of disallowing the entry of women into the hilltop shrine.
On September 28, 2018, the apex court ruled by a 4-1 majori t y t h a t n o woman c a n b e stopped from entering Sabarimala temple, ending a tradit i o nal b a n o n t he e nt r y o f women between 10 and 50 years of age into the shrine. Women of reproductive age were restricted from entering the over 800-year-old shrine in south Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district because its presiding deity, Lord Ayyappa, is considered to be a celibate. Subsequently, over 60 review and fresh petitions were filed in the top court asking the court to re-look its 2018 verdict as it clashed with the rights of the devotees.
Earlier this month, CJI SA Bobde said that the September 2018 judgment of the Supreme Court permitting women to enter the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala is not the last word on the issue, Chief Justice of India SA Bobde remarked on Thursday when hearing a plea by a Kerala woman seeking protection to enter the temple.