Ban on women’s entry in Sabarimala: SC refers to Const Bench

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday referred to a constitution bench the contentious issue relating to the ban on entry of women between 10 to 50 years of age in Kerala's historic Sabarimala Temple.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra framed five "significant" questions to be dealt with by the constitution bench, including whether the practice of banning entry of women in the temple amounted to discrimination and violated their fundamental rights under the Constitution.

"Whether the exclusionary practice which is based upon a biological factor exclusive to the female gender amounts to 'discrimination' and thereby violates the very core of Articles 14, 15 and 17 and not protected by 'morality' as used in Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution," the bench, also comprising Justices R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan, framed as an issue to be decided by the constitution bench.

The management of the Sabarimala temple, located on a hilltop in the Western Ghats of Pathanamthitta district, had earlier told the apex court that the ban on entry of women aged between 10 and 50 years was because they cannot maintain "purity" on account of menstruation.

The second issue referred to the constitution bench is whether the practice of excluding such women constitutes an "essential religious practice" under Article 25 of the Constitution and whether a religious institution can assert a claim in that regard under the umbrella of right to manage its own affairs in the matters of religion.

The constitution bench would also deal with whether the Ayyappa Temple has a denominational character and "if so, is it permissible on the part of a 'religious denomination' managed by a statutory board and financed under Article 290-A of the Constitution out of Consolidated Fund of Kerala and Tamil Nadu to indulge in such practice violating constitutional principles/morality embedded in Articles 14, 15(3), 39(a) and 51-A(e)."