A five-member Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the issue of women's entry to places of worship, with respect to its Sabarimala verdict of September 2018, had been referred to a larger seven-judge bench. The Supreme Court has kept the review petitions filed against the verdict pending.
The court added that there would not be any stay on its September 2018 judgment that permitted entry to women of all age groups to Sabarimala.
The Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, comprised justices R.F. Nariman, A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra. The bench had reserved its verdict in the Sabarimala issue on February 6. Of the five judges, Justice Chandrachud and Nariman dissented. Nariman and Chandrachud held that compliance with Supreme Court judgments is not optional.
Reading its order Chief Justice Gogoi noted the entry of women to places of worship involved "overarching morality with respect to preamble of the Constitution". Gogoi said the petitioners had sought to "revive the debate" on what is an "integral part" of a religion. Gogoi noted that religious practices could not be against public order and morality as per provisions of Part 3 of the Constitution that deals with fundamental rights. Gogoi also noted that it was "another seminal issue" to decide if the constitutional court could interfere in "integral" parts of religion.
Gogoi noted that issue of women's entry to places of worship was not limited to Sabarimala itself and referred to mosques where the issue had cropped up.
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Around 65 petitions were filed after the Supreme Court ruled in September 2018 that the ban on entry of women of menstruating age into the Sabarimala temple was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court ruling triggered widespread protests across Kerala after the state government of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced its intention to implement the Supreme Court ruling allowing entry of women of all age groups to the Sabarimala temple.
The 65 petitions consisted of 56 review pleas, four writ petitions and five transfer pleas. Most of these pleas were filed after violent protests erupted in Kerala.
The Sabarimala verdict and its implementation was a key issue in the campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls as the opposition Congress and BJP sought to corner the Vijayan government on its perceived insensitivity to Hindu beliefs. The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front won just one of the 20 Lok Sabha seats, with the Congress and its allies winning the remaining 19.
The Supreme Court verdict on the review petitions will come at a sensitive time for the Vijayan government as the annual pilgrimage season at Sabarimala will start in just three days' time. The Sabarimala temple will be open for the two-month-long Mandalam Makaravilakku pilgrimage season on the evening of November 16.
Last week, Vijayan had assessed preparations for the annual Sabarimala pilgrimage season. More than 10,000 police personnel will be deployed around the Sabarimala temple during the course of the pilgrimage season.