Sabarimala crisis: 'Travancore Devaswom Board' to submit affidavit in SC

Thiruvananthapuram: The Travancore Devaswom Board will submit an affidavit in the Supreme Court on the situation prevailing in the state following its order allowing the entry of women in the age group of 10-50 years in the Sabarimala temple.

Senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi will represent the TDB. A meeting of the board held here on Friday also decided to file an affidavit in the High Court on the issue through its counsel. It was decided not to file a review petition as 25 review petitions are already before the Supreme Court. The TDB has been made a respondent in all these petitions.

Board president A. Padmakumar told reporters that the situation was serious and hence the board had decided to prepare a detailed report on the matter. “We have to solve this crisis, which is why we met today despite it being a holiday. The situation is grim at Sabarimala which cannot be converted into a war zone. The issue has to be resolved in an amicable manner. We have been consulting legal experts.

The nature of the affidavit will be decided later," said Mr Padmakumar. He told DC later that the board felt that the review petition was not a good option as it could not be even argued in the open court. Moreover, even if the court admitted any of the review petitions now before the court, it would ask for a report from the TDB. Hence, the plan is to submit the report as an affidavit even before that. “We will first consult Mr Singhvi. All the legal steps would be taken on his advice. A final decision on whether to go for a review petition or seek any other course of action will be taken only after the advice given by Mr Singhvi,” he said.