The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it would hear the review petitions filed against the Sabarimala verdict on November 13. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S.K. Kaul said the court is aware of the 19 petitions submitted seeking review of the judgment and has listed the hearing for November 13.
The bench had on Monday said it would set the date for hearing review petitions on Tuesday. The bench on Monday said this as it considered the submissions of lawyer Mathews J. Nedumpara that his petition seeking review of the constitutional bench judgment be listed for urgent hearing. Nedumpara was mentioning the petition filed by National Ayyappa Devotees Association.
Meanwhile, the Travancore Devaswom Board, the board managing the Sabarimala temple, will meet in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday and take a decision on its legal course to be taken in the court where review petitions have been filed against its recent order lifting the centuries-old ban on entry of women in 10-50 age group into the Lord Ayyappa temple, its chief A. Padmakumar said.
A five-judge constitution bench by a ratio of 4:1 on September 28 had held that women of all age groups should be allowed entry in Kerala's Sabarimala temple. Last week, the TDB had decided to approach the apex court and submit a report on the situation prevailing in the state in the backdrop of intense protest by devotees of Lord Ayyappa after the LDF government decided to implement the order on entry of women.
The Sabarimala issue has snowballed into a major political row with the opposition—the Congress and the BJP—extending solidarity with the believers and supporting the agitation by devotees, who included a large number of women.
