The Supreme Court on Saturday notified the formation of a nine-judge bench to review its earlier verdict regarding the entry of young women into Kerala’s Sabarimala temple. The bench will also hear a batch of petitions raising broader constitutional questions on the scope and ambit of religious freedom.
The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, comprises Justices Joymalya Bagchi, B.V. Nagarathna, R. Mahadevan, M.M. Sundresh, Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Aravind Kumar, A.G. Masih, and Prasanna B. Varale. Hearings will commence on April 7.
A five-judge Constitution bench, in a 4:1 majority verdict in September 2018, struck down the centuries-old tradition barring women of menstruating age from entering the Lord Ayyappa temple in Pathanamthitta district.
On November 14, 2019, another five-judge bench, headed by then-CJI Ranjan Gogoi, by a 3:2 majority, referred the issue of discrimination against women at various places of worship to a larger bench.
The 2018 verdict had sparked massive protests, with various Hindu outfits staging demonstrations across Kerala. Both the BJP and Congress supported the protesters, seeking protection of the existing custom at Sabarimala.
Besides Sabarimala, the larger bench will also examine the entry of Muslim women into mosques and dargahs, and of Parsi women married to non-Parsi men into the holy fire place of an Agiary.
The court will scrutinise the scope and ambit of the right to freedom of religion under Article 25, as well as the interplay between individual rights under Article 25 and the rights of religious denominations under Article 26.
The bench will also consider whether the rights of a religious denomination under Article 26 are subject to other fundamental rights, beyond public order, morality, and health.
The scope and meaning of “morality” under Articles 25 and 26, including whether it encompasses constitutional morality, will also be examined.
The court will also determine whether a person not belonging to a religious denomination or group can challenge a practice of that group by filing a public interest litigation (PIL).
