Insta
Five Key Takeaways From Supreme Court’s Decision To Lift The Ban On Women’s Entry Into Sabarimala Temple
Swarajya Staff
Sep 28, 2018, 11:44 AM | Updated 11:44 AM IST
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Friday struck down the ban on entry of women into the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. In a 4:1 ruling, the Apex Court allowed all women in the age group of 10 to 50, who had previously been barred from entering the temple, access and struck down Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) 1965 as ultra vires.
Chief Justice Dipak Misra writing on behalf of himself and Justice Khanwilkar, Justice Rohinton Nariman and Justice DY Chandrachud supported lifting of the ban on women’s worship at the hill shrine while Justice Indu Malhotra authored the lone dissent.
Some of the important takeaways from the Court’s judgement are:
- The bar on entry of women between ages 10 and 50 is not an essential part of religion.
- The devotees of Lord Ayyappa could not be held to be a separate religious denomination and are exclusively Hindus. The impugned state rule violated the right of Hindu women to conduct worship at the Sabarimala temple and was therefore violative of Article 25 of the Constitution.
- Women could not be denied the right to worship on the grounds of physiological factors or religion. To do so was to stigmatise them and could not be condoned.
- Justice Chandrachud further interpreted Article 17 of the Constitution in a broad fashion and did not restrict the same to the abolition of untouchability.
- Justice Indu Malhotra in her dissent noted that religious practices could not be tested solely on the anvil of Article 14 of the Constitution and the issues raised in respect of Sabarimala impacted other religious places of worship as well.
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
Support Swarajya's 50 Ground Reports Project & Sponsor A Story
Every general election Swarajya does a 50 ground reports project.
Aimed only at serious readers and those who appreciate the nuances of political undercurrents, the project provides a sense of India's electoral landscape. As you know, these reports are produced after considerable investment of travel, time and effort on the ground.
This time too we've kicked off the project in style and have covered over 30 constituencies already. If you're someone who appreciates such work and have enjoyed our coverage please consider sponsoring a ground report for just Rs 2999 to Rs 19,999 - it goes a long way in helping us produce more quality reportage.
You can also back this project by becoming a subscriber for as little as Rs 999 - so do click on this links and choose a plan that suits you and back us.
Click below to contribute.