Breaking: SC Agrees To Hear Sabarimala Review Petitions In Open Court On January 22, No Stay On Judgment [Read Order]

A Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice RF Nariman, Justice AM Khanwilkar, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Indu Malhotra on Tuesday decided to hear the review petitions against Sabarimala Judgment  in open Court on January 22.

"All the Review Petitions along with all pending applications will be heard in Open Court on 22nd January,2019 before the appropriate Bench. We make it clear that there is no stay of the judgment and order of this Court dated 28th September, 2018 passed in Writ Petition (Civil) No.373 of 2006 (Indian Young Lawyers Association & Ors. vs.The State of Kerala & Ors.)", states the Order.

The review petitions rely heavily on the dissenting judgment of Justice Indu Malhotra to contend that constitutional parameters of rationality cannot be blindly applied to matters of faith. The review petitions also state that the Court erred in entertaining the PIL without examining the locus standi of the petitioner. It is contended that no woman devotee of Lord Ayyappa would want to visit Sabarimala temple, and hence the Court erred in adjudicating the issue on a petition filed by a party who is totally alien to the temple customs.

Further, it is pointed out that Court wrongly concluded that the basis of prohibition was physiological nature of women. According to the review petitioners,the practise was rooted in the “naishtika brahmachari” character of deity, as per which the deity cannot be in the presence of women. The practise is therefore not derogatory to the dignity of women, states the petition.

A five-judge constitution bench by a ratio of 4:1 had held that women of all age groups should be allowed entry in Kerala's Sabarimala Temple.