SC reserves order on Sabarimala issue

The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its order on a plea to refer the matters pertaining to the ban on entry of women aged between 10 to 50 years at Kerala's Sabarimala temple to a Constitution bench.

A three-judge bench presided over by Justice Dipak Misra said it would deliver a judgement regarding the ‘complexities of the issue’ and may refer the matter to a larger bench for its consideration.
The bench, also comprising Justices R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan, asked the parties, including the PIL petitioner Indian Young Lawyers Association, Kerala government and the amicus curiae, to furnish within a week their written submissions and questions which may be referred to a five-judge constitution bench.

Defending the practice, senior advocate K K Venugopal, representing the Travancore Devaswom Board which manages the hill-top shrine, submitted that the “discrimination” was not between men and women but between women and women.