Sabarimala Women Entry Case Reopens; Supreme Court to Hear on Monday
New Delhi: The Sabarimala women entry case, which has sparked significant controversy and protests in the state, is reopening. The Supreme Court will hear on Monday the petitions requesting a review of the verdict that allowed women to enter Sabarimala. The Supreme Court last considered this issue related to women’s entry in 2019. At that time, due to the COVID-19 situation, a nine-judge bench had postponed hearing the petitions.
It is now after six years that the case is coming up for consideration again. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Surya Kant will hear the case on Monday. It will also be decided in court on Monday whether the nine-judge bench will commence arguments in the matter. Of the judges who were part of the nine-judge bench in 2019, Chief Justice Surya Kant is the only remaining one.
It is noteworthy whether arguments in the petitions will take place before the state assembly elections. When the petitions are considered, the state government will have to present its position. Previously, the state government had supported women’s entry. Whether there will be a change in stance in the new political context of the state will be closely watched.
Verdict of the Constitutional Bench
The 2018 verdict of the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench had ruled that women of all ages must be allowed entry into Sabarimala. Four of the five judges in the bench explained that the ban on entry due to menstruation violated the constitutional guarantee of equality and that Sabarimala Ayyappa devotees could not be treated as a separate religious category. Chief Justice Deepak Mishra emphasized that the phrase “all persons” in Article 25 of the Constitution, relating to religious freedom, includes women and that there is no distinction based on biological reasons. Chief Justice Deepak Mishra, along with Justices R.F. Nariman, A.M. Khanwilkar, and D.Y. Chandrachud, ruled that women could enter irrespective of age. Including Justice Khanwilkar’s views, Chief Justice Mishra, in agreement, along with Justices Nariman and Chandrachud, wrote the judgment incorporating their own interpretations.
However, Justice Indu Malhotra, dissenting from the majority, clarified that the court should not interfere in matters of faith and that belief cannot be measured by constitutional reasoning. Since the petitioners were not Ayyappa devotees, the petition was dismissed.