Even as the Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to stay its verdict allowing entry of women of all age groups into the Sabarimala temple, it agreed to hear in open court on January 22 a batch of review petitions related to the matter. The review petitions against the September 28 verdict were taken up ‘in-chamber’ by a Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra. In in-chamber proceedings, the judges examine review petitions by circulation and lawyers are not present.
“All the review petitions, along with all pending applications, will be heard in open court on January 22, before the appropriate Bench. We make it clear that there is no stay of the judgment and order of this Court dated September 28, 2018 passed in Writ Petition (Civil) No.373 of 2006 (Indian Young Lawyers Association & Ors. Vs. The State of Kerala & Ors),” the order said.
There are around 48 petitions seeking review of the judgement.
The apex court, earlier in the day, had made it clear that fresh pleas related to the Sabarimala temple entry will be heard only after it decides the earlier petitions seeking review of the judgment allowing entry of women of all age groups into the shrine in Kerala. The Bench stated this while hearing the three fresh petitions filed by G Vijaya Kumar, S Jaya Rajkumar and Shailaja Vijayan challenging its September 28 verdict. On September 28, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by the then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, in its 4:1 verdict, had paved the way for entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple saying the bar amounted to gender discrimination.
The Supreme Court on October 9 declined an urgent hearing on a review plea filed by an association which had contended that the five-judge Constitution bench’s verdict removing the bar was “absolutely untenable and irrational.”
The plea filed by the National Ayyappa Devotees Association (NADA), which sought review of the verdict, had said: “The notion that the judgment under review is revolutionary, one which removes the stigma or the concept of dirt or pollution associated with menstruation, is unfounded. It is a judgment welcomed by hypocrites who were aspiring for media headlines. On the merits of the case, as well, the said judgment is absolutely untenable and irrational, if not perverse.”
Besides the association, several other parties, including one by the Nair Service Society (NSS), have filed petitions against the apex court verdict. The NSS had said in its plea that as the deity is a ‘Naistika Brahmachari’, females below the age of 10 and after the age of 50 years are eligible to worship him and there is no practice of excluding worship by females.
“Hence, the delay or wait for 40 years to worship cannot be considered as exclusionary and it is an error of law on the face of the judgement,” the plea had said.
Meanwhile, the Sabarimala temple head priest welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to hear review petitions against its judgement on the women’s entry issue, in an open court on January 22, saying “it is a big victory, this is Ayappa’s victory,” according to PTI from Sabarimala.
Reacting to the Constitution bench’s decision to hear a batch of 50 petitions in the open court, Tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru said today’s outcome was due to the blessings of Lord Ayyappa, the presiding deity of the hill shrine. “The blessings of Lord Ayyappa and prayers of lots of devotees are behind this decision to hear the matter in the open court”, a beaming Tantri told reporters.
He said the shrine had never faced such troubled times, as first the floods caused immense damage to infrastructure in and around the temple complex and then came the apex court verdict of September 28, permitting women of all ages to offer prayers, at the shrine. “This is a big victory. We believe things will become normal. This is Ayyappa’s victory”, he said, adding everything would turn positive.
Devaswom Minister Kadakkampally Surendran said the Government was waiting for details of the judgement. “We have said it earlier also. Whatever decision the Supreme Court takes, we will abide by it”, he said.
BJP State president PS Sreedharan Pillai described the apex court decision as a “good step”. “We accept the spirit of today’s Supreme Court decision”, he said.
The State had witnessed protests from devotees against the top court’s verdict, permitting women of all ages to pray at the shrine. Women in the 10-50 age group had been barred for centuries from visiting and offering prayers as the deity is considered a “Naishtika Brahmachari” (eternal celibate).
