On the 14th of November, the Supreme Court (SC) transferred the ongoing Sabarimala temple case to a bench of 7 judges.
In September 2018, the SC lifted the ban on women’s entry into Sabarimala temple. Women between the age group of 10 to 50 were restricted from entering the Sabarimala temple. The authorities of the temple believe the practice of prohibiting women of that particular age group is an old tradition and should be followed.
Despite the SC’s verdict in favour of the women’s entry, the devotees of Lord Ayyappa did not allow any woman belonging to that age group to enter the shrine.
Later, a bench of 5 judges, which included Ranjan Gogoi, the Chief Justice of India (CJI,) agreed to review petitions and reconsider its verdict.
On the 14th of November, the SC judges said, “Restrictions on women in religious places are not restricted to Sabarimala alone and are prevalent in other religions also.”
The judges said the matter should be examined by a larger bench of judges. The SC then handed over the case to a bench of 7 members. In yesterday’s hearing, the 5 judges gave a split verdict of 3:2.
However, the final verdict would come after the examination of the issue by the larger bench of judges, which would decide if the Apex Court can interfere in religious matters of such kind.
Stay tuned for further updates.
