Sabarimala: SC declines early hearing on review pleas

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to change its schedule to take up review petitions related to entry of women in Kerala's Sabarimala temple after Diwali, on November 13.

“The temple is to open for 24 hours on the evening on November 5-6. You have to wait. It will be taken up after Diwali vacations,” a bench presided over by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi told a counsel.

The counsel mentioned the review petition filed by All India Malayali Samaj and sought an urgent hearing.

The bench, comprising Justices U U Lalit and K M Joseph, declined the plea for an urgent hearing.

The court had earlier said that petitions seeking reconsideration of the Sabarimala verdict by a Constitution bench on September 28 have been fixed for hearing on November 13 at 3 pm.

A five-judge Constitution bench by a majority of 4:1 had set aside the age-old prohibition of women between 10 and 50 years from entering the temple.

The top court had then said the right to practice one's religion guaranteed under the Constitution does not discriminate on the grounds of gender and physiological factors like menstruation.

According to the SC Rules, review petitions are taken up by the judges in their chamber in absence of lawyers.

The Sabarimala temple was opened October 16, but no woman succeeded to visit the shrine in view of fierce protests over there. The temple was closed on October 22.

The Kerala Police have launched a massive crackdown by arresting 3,505 people, till Sunday, in 529 cases registered in connection with protests in and around Sabarimala against the entry of women of all ages to the Ayyappa Temple.