Judgment reserved in Sabarimala review petitions

After hearing a bunch of review petitions filed against the September 28 judgment which declared the right of women of all age groups to enter the Sabarimala temple from the morning till 3pm, the SC constitution bench reserved judgment on them.

In the morning, the Constitution Bench of CJI Gogoi, and Justices Khanwilkar, Nariman, Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra heard the arguments for the petitioners including Nair Service Society, thanthri of the temple and former Chairman of Travancore Devaswom Board. The crux of their argument was that the practice at the temple was based on the celibate character of the deity. Constitutional morality was a subjective test which should not be applied in matters of faith, the petitioners also submitted.

They said that the right to worship must be exercised in consonance with the nature of the deity and essential practice of the temple.

Representing the Government of Kerala, Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta opposed the review petitions, saying that the essential practice of an individual temple cannot be regarded as an essential practice of a religion.

He submitted that exclusion of women was not essential to the Hindu religion

After hearingthese and otherarguments, the Court reserved orders.