Supreme Court: A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by CJI Sharad Arvind Bobde has fixed a 10-day period for concluding the hearing on the petition seeking women’s entry into Sabarimala temple, mosques, and Parsi Agiyari. The bench was hearing the petitions pertaining to the discrimination against women at places of worship.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the matter before the Court and said that all the lawyers from various parties in the case sat together and discussed the issue but could not reach a consensus on the matter, which is to be heard by a 9-judge constitution bench.
The Supreme Court had on January 13 said that it will only hear the questions referred to in the review order passed by it in November last year in the Sabarimala temple case, which allowed women and girls of all age groups to visit the shrine in Kerala. The bench had asked counsels to consult each other and decide which issue is to be argued by whom as done during Ayodhya hearing.
The Court had in November last year, suggested that the Sabarimala issue along with other related issues, be heard by a larger bench of at least 7-judges.
The court is hearing a clutch of petitions seeking reconsideration of its September 2018 judgment that lifted the bar on menstruating women from worshipping in the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.
The Court in a landmark 4:1 ruling had set aside decades-old restrictions on the entry of women of menstruating age inside the temple.
The verdict had sparked a series of protests across the state, which eventually led to the filing of several petitions seeking review of the top court’s order challenging the authority of the court to intervene in a belief of the people.
(With inputs from ANI)
Read more about the opinions of all the judges in the 4:1 majority verdict here.
