PTI, NEW DELHI: Travancore Devaswom Board, which runs Sabarimala temple, and the Kerala government Wednesday opposed in the Supreme Court a batch of pleas seeking review of its historic verdict allowing entry of women of all ages into the shrine, even as several organisations sought re-consideration of the judgement.
The apex court, by a majority of 4:1 on September 28 last year, lifted the ban that prevented women and girls between the age of 10 and 50 from entering the temple in Kerala and had held that this centuries-old Hindu religious practice was illegal and unconstitutional.
A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, which had earlier agreed to hear in open court the pleas seeking review of the verdict, Wednesday reserved its decision after hearing for three-and-half hours the parties, including Nair Service Society, Thantry of temple, temple Board (TDB) and the state government, in favour and against of the plea.
As many as 65 petitions including 56 review petitions and four fresh writ petitions and five transfer pleas were filed in the apex court after its verdict had sparked violent protests in Kerala.
The bench, also comprising justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, was in for a pleasant surprise as the temple board, which also comprises the state government nominees, took a U-turn by supporting the verdict and said the people should gracefully accept it.
The temple board, in earlier round of litigation, had opposed the PIL by Indian Young Lawyers Association seeking to throw open the shrine for all women.
Justice Malhotra interdicted senior lawyer Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for temple board, and said, “You had argued against women’s entry”.
“The Board has now decided to respect the judgment”, Dwivedi replied, adding, “Article 25 (1) equally entitles all persons to practice religion.”
“Women cannot be excluded from any walk of life on biological attributes… equality is the dominant theme of the Constitution,” Dwivedi said.
The Kerala government, which had taken conflicting stands on entry of women into the hill-top shrine, supported the verdict and urged the court to trash review pleas.
Senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, appearing for the state government, said a constitutional court should not worry about the law and order problem and “social disturbances”.
Exclusion of women from temples is not essential practice of Hindu religion, he added.
At the outset, the bench made clear to lawyers that it would hear only those who are parties to review petitions and asked them to confine arguments on grounds for reconsideration of the judgement.
