Judge advises Govt to read dissent verdict

Minority dissent verdicts are seldom taken seriously but Supreme Court judge Rohinton Fali Nariman on Friday asked the government to read the "extremely important dissent" order penned by him in the Sabarimala case. (He had authored the dissent order on his own behalf and that of Justice D Y Chandrachud).

Justice Nariman referred to the matter during a hearing on bail plea of Karnataka Congress leader D K Shivakumar in a money laundering case and asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to bring to the notice of the government the dissent order in the Sabarimala case.He told the Solicitor General: "Please tell your government to read the dissent judgment delivered in the Sabarimala case, which is extremely important...’’

Justice Nariman has cited nine reasons why the review of the Sabarimala verdict is not maintainable, affirming that

the devotees of Lord Ayyappa do not constitute a separate religious denomination; nor do they have common religious tenets peculiar to themselves, other than those common to the Hindu religion. The devotees are exclusively Hindus and do not constitute a separate religious denomination, he has said.The dissent order says the exclusionary practice being followed at the Sabarimala temple violates the right of Hindu women to freely practise their religion and exhibit their devotion towards Lord Ayyappa; and this denial deprives them of their right to worship. As such, the impugned rule 3(b) of the 1965 Rules stipulating exclusion of entry of women of the age group of 10 to 50 years is a clear violation of the right of Hindu women to practise their religious beliefs under Article 25(1).The dissent order added that the court must decline to grant constitutional legitimacy to practices which belittle the dignity of women and endanger their entitlement to an equal citizenship.