SC directs Kerala govt to frame law on Sabarimala

NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Kerala government to frame a law to manage the Sabarimala temple by the third week of January 2020, and expressed displeasure over the state not coming up with such a law despite stating so in August.

A three-judge bench led by justice NV Ramana said the Ayappa temple in Sabarimala cannot be administered by a common law proposed to govern 3,000 temples.

The bench, also comprising justices Subhash Reddy and BR Gavai, pointed out that the proposed law had reserved one-third of the posts for women in the temple advisory committee and wondered what the state would do if the larger bench, which will look into the issues suggested by the five-judge Constitution Bench – on the question of age restrictions on entry of women into the hill shrine – was to take a different view from what was decided in 2018. A five-judge bench led by then CJI Dipak Misra in September 2018 lifted a decades-old restriction on girls and women aged between 10 and 50 years entering the Sabarimala temple, triggering protests by traditionalists in Kerala . Last week, the SC, by a 3:2 majority, referred the issue to a seven-judge bench after observing that the controversy was related to gender discrimination and overlapped with other cases pending before the top court.

It suggested clubbing those matters – restrictions on women from entering mosques, female genital mutilation (FGM) and prohibition on Parsi women from entering fire temples – with the Sabarimala case for a comprehensive judgment that would answer questions arising out of such petitions.

In response to the court’s question, senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, appearing for the Kerala government, said in case the 2018 ruling is set aside, the proposed members would then be women above 50 years.