From Sabrimala verdict to dargah: SC says larger bench could look at all such cases

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to stay its September 2018 judgement opening Kerala’s Sabarimala shrine to women of all ages, but decided to form a seven-judge Constitution bench to review the verdict.

The 3:2 majority judgement also said the issue is not restricted to Sabarimala, but concerns restrictions on entry of women to other places of worship. The majority judgement of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and Indu Malhotra was read out by the Chief Justice.

The Constitution bench also suggested the larger bench look into pending cases in relation to entry of Muslim women to a dargah/mosque; Parsi women married to non-Parsis and their entry to a fire temple; and issues relating to female genital mutilation in the Dawoodi Bohra community. The apex court observed that a common policy needs to be formulated to deal with recurring cases related to similar issues of faith and religion.

In their minority verdict, Justices R.F. Nariman and D.Y. Chandrachud gave a dissenting view, ordering the dismissal of all review petitions and directed compliance with last year’s judgement.

The split decision came on 65 petitions—56 review petitions, four fresh writ petitions and five transfer pleas—which were filed after the apex court verdict of 28 September 2018 sparked violent protests in Kerala.

The judgement granted women of all ages the right to enter the Sabarimala temple, reversing the Kerala shrine’s tradition of barring girls and women of menstruating age.

The review petitions state that the judgment was in violation of express constitutional provisions guaranteeing Lord Ayyappa devotees’ liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship under Article 25 of the Indian Constitution.