New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to consider on Tuesday a batch of petitions seeking review of its September 28 verdict allowing entry of women of all age groups into the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.
On September 28, a five-judge constitution bench headed by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, in its 4:1 verdict, had paved the way for entry of women of all ages into the temple. A batch of 48 petitions seeking review of the judgement would be taken up in-chamber by a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices R.F. Nariman, A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandra-chud and Indu Malhotra.
On September 28, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, in its 4:1 verdict, had paved the way for entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple saying that the ban amounted to gender discrimination. A batch of 48 petitions seeking review of the judgement would be taken up for consideration in-chamber by a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices R.F. Nari-man, A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra.
Besides these pleas, three separate petitions seeking review of the verdict are also slated to come up for hearing in the open court before a bench comprising CJI Gogoi and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K.M. Joseph.
The apex court’s judgement has led to protests and counter-protests at the hill-top shrine in Kerala. The top court had on October 9 declined an urgent hearing on the review plea filed by an association which had contended that the five-judge Constitution bench’s verdict lifting the ban was “absolutely untenable and irrational”. Later, the court had said that it would consider the review pleas on November 13.
A plea filed by National Ayyappa Devotees Association, had said that “the notion that the judgment under review is revolutionary, is unfounded. It is a judgment welcomed by hypocrites who were aspiring for media headlines.”
