SC: When men can enter Sabarimala, even women can

Devotees pray at Sabarimala during Maravilakku festival. Pic/AFP

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said women have the constitutional right to enter Sabarimala temple in Kerala and pray like men without being discriminated against.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, which is hearing a petition challenging the decision of the Devaswom board banning entry of women of age group 10-50 years, said even if there was no law, the women cannot be discriminated against with regard to offering prayer in a temple. "When a man can enter, a woman can also go. What applies to a man, applies to a woman also," the bench also comprising justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra observed. "The right to enter a temple is not dependent on a legislation. It is the constitutional right," the bench said.

The top court was informed by the Kerala government that it also supported the entry of women of all age groups in the temple. The bench then referred to the contrary affidavits of the Kerala government, which had in 2015 supported the entry of women but made a U-turn in 2017 and opposed the entry. The counsel for the Kerala government said it would go by its first affidavit and support the cause. "You are changing with the changing times," the bench remarked. Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for one of the intervenors, said that the ban on the entry of women of certain age groups was violative of various fundamental rights, including Article 17, which deals with untouchability.

She also referred to the definition of the term Hindu under various statutes and said that the women were discriminated against not on the ground of sex but because of menstruation.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever