Thiruvananthapuram: The state government and the Travancore Devaswom Board opposed the review pleas on the Sabarimala issue in the Supreme Court on Wednesday when the petitioners argued that the verdict delivered by the court on September 22 allowing the entry of young women in the temple was wrong.
TDB president A. Padmakumar told reporters here that the TDB will accept the verdict on the review petitions whatever it be.
Saying that the board had not changed its earlier stand, he pointed out that it had just agreed to the September 28 verdict.
With the Supreme Court reserving its verdict on the review pleas, it is not clear when the final verdict will be pronounced.
"The board's stand while opening the temple for Kumba month puja will be clarified later. Its submission in the court was in accordance with the September 28 order. If the apex court delivers another verdict, we'll follow that," he said.
He criticised the BJP's stand when the reporters quizzed him about the board's somersault. Lawyer Rakesh Dwivedi, who appeared for the TDB in the Supreme Court, clarified before Justice Indu Malhotra that the TDB had changed its earlier stand.
When she asked whether the board had changed its stand, Rakesh Dwivedi quipped, "what I'm saying now is the board's current stand." He also said that there was no proof to show that the ban on young women's entry in Sabarimala is an essential part of religion.
The TDB had moved a petition in the Supreme Court on November 19 to seek more time to implement the order. Then the board had also maintained that it will try to implement the order and that since there was lack of time to provide the infrastructure and other arrangements at Sabarimala, it was forced to seek more time.
