The National Ayyappa Devotees Association and the Nair Service Society (NSS) on Monday led separate pleas in the Supreme Court seeking review of the Constitution bench judgment that lifted the ban on entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple.
The plea led by devotees association president Shylaja Vijayan said the September 28 judgment was "absolutely untenable and irrational, if not perverse".
The NSS review petition, readied by former attorney general and senior advocate K. Parasaran, was led by advocate K.V. Mohanan. "The petition lists out specific points in the earlier verdict and seeks to hear arguments on them,” said NSS general secretary G. Sukumaran.
On the other hand, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Monday that the state government will not move a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict. Addressing mediapersons, the CM said since the state had stated in its affidavit in the SC that the verdict would be implemented, the state would not move a review petition.
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A review petition can be filed within a month of the pronouncement of the verdict. Various other Hindu religious organisations are also moving the SC.
The state government was not against devotees. The government was ready to hold discussions but would not yield to those who created issues with political motives, he said. Vijayan alleged that attempts were being made to destroy the unity and secular fabric of Kerala, witnessed during the days of the deluge.
“It is relevant to recall the role of Mannath Padmanabhan during the renaissance movement. He fought against the wrong practices which were prevalent in the community. Kerala progressed through such social reformation,” Pinarayi said. “Earlier, there was a notion not to interfere with religious practices. However, national institutions changed this stand and revolutionary movements like Vaikom Satyagraha were the result of this policy change. Renaissance institutions have brought major changes to the lives of Kerala women community,” he said. The CM also asked not to link the SC verdict with Kerala's social progress. He affirmed that the LDF government was not behind the SC verdict and it was not the state government's stand that prompted the SC to take that decision. The SC also considered the argument that women of all ages used to visit the temple during monthly rituals," he said.
A five-judge constitution bench headed by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, had in its 4:1 verdict, said that banning the entry of women into the shrine is gender discrimination and that the practice violates rights of Hindu women.
Meanwhile, the family of Sabarimala tantris refused to hold talks with the Kerala government on the SC order. Declining the invite by Vijayan, Sabarimala priest Kandararu Mohanaru asked the government for a final decision over filing the review petition.
