Vijayan: Kerala will not appeal against temple verdict

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan yesterday declared that the Kerala government will not file a review petition against a Supreme Court ruling that women in the age group of 10-50 can also enter the famed Sabarimala temple.

“It is not possible to file a review petition by the Kerala government against the verdict as we had told the apex court in our affidavit that we will abide by whatever the court rules,” he told the media.

“Hence it’s not now possible to file a review petition,” said Vijayan, amid widespread protests against the September 28 verdict.

Vijayan pointed out a few instances where women in the banned age group had entered the temple in the past.

In a majority 4:1 judgement, the Supreme Court said the ban on women in the menstruating age group, whose presence in the Lord Ayyappa temple was considered to be “impure”, violated their fundamental rights and constitutional guarantee of equality.

Until now, girls below 10 years and women over 50 years were allowed to visit the hilltop shrine. Meanwhile, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said that both the state and the Centre can file review petitions.